One of the most mistaken ideas of late, is that the wonderful, graceful, Statue of Liberty, which graces New York Harbor, is identified with the poem inside its base. Titled, “The New Colossus.” You know, “…Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door….” The entire poem is much longer, but the quoted part is most remembered. Nice poem by Emma Lazarus, but not part of the original Statue. The Statue is about LIBERTY, not welfare or refugees. It was written literally about a large Greek statue which was destroyed by an earthquake about 200 A.D. called “The Colossus Of Rhodes.”
Emma Lazarus was a native New Yorker, daughter of a rich Jewish family dating back several generations in New York. Lazarus was concerned about Jewish persecution in Russia. She was involved in organizations offering assistance to Jewish refugees who needed help upon arriving in a new land. The poem was first publically read in December or 1883, and was promptly forgotten. Lazarus died four years later in 1887. In May, 1903, a friend of the late Lazarus, managed to have a bronze plaque of the poem installed in the inside base of the Statue. The Statue of Liberty was NEVER intended to be a sign or recognition of immigration, but of liberty and freedom.
The Statue was dedicated in 1886. Built in France between 1881 and 1884, and designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, its torch bearing arm was first displayed in 1976, at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Bartholdi created the work out of sheets of hammered copper, while Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel (who created the Eiffel Tower) built the iron framework. It was given to the United States from the people of France. However the cost of moving and erection was not part of the gift, and the creators needed to be paid also. Fund raising was slow, but Joseph Pulitzer who owned the New York World newspaper, started a fund raising drive, and 120,000 people contributed…most less than a dollar! The Statue’s completion was celebrated with New York’s first ticker tape parade, and a dedication ceremony by then President Grover Cleveland.
By 1982, the Statue had become rather shaky, and it was feared it may topple over. Ronnie Reagan appointed Chrysler President Lee Iacocca to head a fund raising campaign to restore ‘Lady Liberty.’ She was closed for re-building in 1984, and her restoration was completed and re-opened on July 4th, 1986. It was a tear shedding, joyous, re-opening with fireworks and the whole patriotic flavored ceremony was watched by millions, including me, who cried with joy like a baby. What a glorious nation we live in, and how sad that the 99% of college professors who are Democrats, have poisoned the minds of youth, who haven’t the slightest idea of patriotism or responsibility. The result of this sad situation, among others, was the riots at Berkeley last week.
My books, “Consequences,” or “I Hold These Truths,” can be had by sending a check for $9.95 for each, to Don Stott, 222 S. 5th St, Montrose CO. 81401. Information at 1-888-786-8822