On October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland presided over the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. Formally titled Liberty Enlightening the World, the monument was a gift from the people of France, celebrating American independence and shared ideals of liberty, with origins rooted in the abolition of slavery. During the day’s celebrations, office workers showered the streets of Lower Manhattan with ribbons of stock-ticker tape—spontaneously beginning one of the city’s most enduring parade traditions.
Getting Liberty onto her pedestal had been far less triumphant. France raised the money for the statue, while Americans were responsible for its base on Bedloe’s Island. When the American committee ran out of funds, newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer rallied readers of the New York World, promising to publish donors’ names regardless of how little they gave. More than 120,000 people contributed over $100,000, most in donations of $1 or less, helping secure the monument’s home.
Edward Moran’s 1886 painting captures the harbor crowded with boats for the unveiling. But the statue those spectators saw was not the familiar green figure of today: her copper skin was brown, like a new penny. By 1906, exposure to the elements had covered her in a green patina. Officials proposed painting the exterior, prompting public protests, while Army engineers concluded that the patina actually protected the copper beneath it. Liberty kept her green complexion—not merely a change in appearance, but a protective layer formed by time.
