The Story of the Liberty Bell

Description

Miss Liberty was to be a symbol of friendship of two nations, a gift from the French – children, artists, composers, rich people and poor – to all Americans.

Auguste Bartholdi began by making a 36-foot model, marking it off into 300 parts to be enlarged and made separately. As the model grew in the courtyard of his studio it looked down on the roofs of Paris. Twenty newsmen were entertained for lunch in the knee of the model.

Miss Liberty proper was a lady of parts. Her head went to the Paris World’s Fair in a sturdy wagon pulled by twelve horses. Her finished arm, with an index finger taller than a man, was sent to America for the one-hundredth anniversary of American independence. Finished at last, she arrived in America in 214 crates.

Now she lifts her lamp “beside the golden door.” More than a symbol of friendship, she has come to stand for freedom for the whole world.