The French vessel Isère steamed into New York Harbor on June 17, 1885, carrying 350 individual copper pieces of the Statue of Liberty packed inside 214 heavy wooden crates. Over 200,000 expectant spectators lined the docks to catch their first glimpse of the vessel, braving a torrential downpour to cheer the arrived symbol of international alliance.
A fascinating layer to this arrival is that Lady Liberty was technically homeless when she pulled into port. The American committee tasked with building the pedestal on Bedloe’s Island had completely run out of funds, leaving the iron framework incomplete. It took a massive, crowd-sourced fundraising campaign led by newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer—who printed the name of every single donor, even those giving mere pennies—to secure the money needed to finally unpack the Isère and assemble the monument.
