 Would it surprise you to know that America's most famous first lady is 100 years old? Well, she lives in New York Harbor and today on Arts America, you're going to meet her. Dedicated in 1886, the Statue of Liberty stands as a remarkable achievement, as a work of art, as a symbol of friendship between France and the United States, and as our nation's most visible symbol for millions of immigrants who have come to these shores over the past century. Welcome to Arts America, I'm your host, John Boss. Resturations have been made to this grand lady of liberty in time for her centennial birthday celebration in 1986. Won't you join us now as we take a behind-the-scenes look at the history of this remarkable statue. Give me a tire, give me a home, give me a wonder. The Statue of Liberty has stood here in New York Harbor. She came as a gift from the people of France to the people of America, but some thought she was a suspicious gift. Some called her a pagan goddess while others saw her as the perfect symbol of liberty. But what about today? What does the statue symbolize now? And what about tomorrow? The pray of the Statue of Liberty began in Colmar, part of the strategic border region between France and Germany. In this peaceful hamlet, which was a center for artists, musicians, craftsmen. Frederick Auguste Bertoldi, creator of the Statue of Liberty, was born. For young Auguste, childhood was a world fashioned by his widowed mother, to groom him as a member of the privileged class. Auguste spent his days studying music, art, and literature. Beyond these walls, political forces were tearing France apart. The Franco-Prussian War had begun. For Bertoldi, war suggested images of nobility, bravery, heroism. Bertoldi enlisted in the National Guard. But all too suddenly, his dream of a glorious victory was smashed by the harsh reality of France's swift and humiliating defeat. Colmar was lost to Germany. Bertoldi felt compelled to create a tribute to the valiant war dead. My only ambition, he wrote, is to engrave my name at the feet of great men and in the service of grand ideas. But Bertoldi did not begin his artistic career as a sculptor. At an early age, he moved to Paris, and there he began to study painting. He soon felt frustrated and incompetent writing to his mother, it's not working out at all. He turned to sculptor and discovered the means to harness his creative energies. When he was 18, he received his first big commission, a statue of Colmar's heroic General Jean Raap, a marshal in Napoleon's army. In his study is a model of his largest work in Europe, a granite lion, dedicated to the defenders of the town of Belfort who held off the German siege force even though most of France had fallen. But Bertoldi, the lion was a symbol of France's defiance of her enemies. He was swept by the lure of sighs and convinced that great monuments must be built around stirring ideas. But the inspiration for the artist's most famous sculpture came in a most unexpected way. Invited to a gathering at the home of Edward Laboulet, he heard the Sorbonne professor discuss America. Freedom to do anything, dare anything, try anything. There you have the American social principle. Bertoldi listened as Laboulet spoke of a monument built to memorialize the friendship between America and France. To many present it was a passing remark, but Bertoldi was impressed and for seven years he thought about it. But what form should the monument take? Where should it be placed? Who would pay for it? One day he would travel to America to find out. June 12, 1871, Bertoldi wrote, Dear mother, have arrived safely in New York City. It is not exactly what I expected. Everyone is running to and fro pressed by the stomach ache of business. Seems to me Americans don't know how to live. In New York City there are 250 churches and 1,208 banks, one indistinguishable from another. Continues to astonish me. There seems to be no order, certainly no consistency. It is incredible, such growth. I cannot understand how all this happened in such a short time. I'm sure my statue will be at home in America. Dear mother, I cannot begin to describe the variety of people I have met. From lawn fellow to Sumner, to President Grant, gold miners, tenant farmers and saloon owners. The diversity is astonishing. I've been asked to paint a portrait of Mormon leader Brigham Young, the happy husband of 16 wives. Mormons are fascinating, but not particularly wealthy. I am troubled. I can't seem to find an image that represents this great nation. He often poured out his hopes and frustrations to his mother about his gigantic undertaking. This project, he wrote, is an excellent thing and I firmly believe in it. However, if I do not have the certitude that you share my confidence, it would cripple me and render me useless. She would always be an important influence. August secretly confided to friends that his mother was his model for the Statue of Liberty. His first design was based on an earlier idea for a lighthouse at the entrance to the Suez Canal. And influenced perhaps by his desire to place the statue in New York Harbor. The statue slowly evolved, a symbol for the new form of liberty he had experienced in America. But even as he worked, Bertoldi and his supporters were trying to solve another problem, which sculptors always had to face. How to raise enough money to make his dream a reality. France has always been a patron of the arts, graced by structures majestic, beautiful. The proper setting for a history of glory, ceremony, grandeur. But to erect his statue, a formidable task still lay ahead for Bertoldi, Laboulay and the fundraising committee. They had approached the traditional sources of support for sculpture, the municipalities, the central government, the aristocracy. They had scheduled public events. A special cantata, Liberty and Lightning the World, composed by Gounot, was held at the Paris Grand Opera. Fundraising dinners and art benefits were arranged. But none of these had brought sufficient funds. So they went directly to the French people. Bertoldi said they will decide Liberty's fate. A national lottery was organized. A few hundred supporters soon grew into hundreds of thousands. One million school children donated 300,000 son teams to the statue fund. It became a movement of the French people. Working men, tradesmen, shop girls, students joined Liberty's cause. Finally enough money was raised to begin. The work of one man's hands would become the work of many hands. But to Laboulay the intellectual who first suggested the monument, the statue meant more than the melding of wood, lath, plaster and cotton. It meant more than the symbol of friendship between two nations, more than the historical truth that without the help of French armies, America might not have achieved her independence. For Laboulay the statue was a political symbol, stating his hope that the form of government that had evolved in the new world might serve as a model for the old. Laboulay had written, if a monument should rise in America as the memorial to their independence, I should think it only natural if it were built by United effort. A common work of both our nations. Soon thousands of people came to Bertoldi's Paris workshop to visit Liberty's construction site, including the president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. But in America some were shouting, send her here, we'll send her back. While some Americans carped and others cheered, France continued working. Liberty was moved outdoors. Engineer Gustave Eiffel, later to design his famous tower, created an iron frame cantilevered to withstand hurricane winds. Without his new design the statue's construction would not have been possible. But before the statue was complete, money ran out. Bertoldi suggested a unique fundraising event, a party in the statue's knee. Of his statue he said, it is a consolation to know that this statue will exist thousands of years from now, long after our own name shall have been forgotten. Finally, in Paris on July 4, 1884, France officially presented the statue to the United States. But America, who had agreed to provide the statue's pedestal in New York Harbor, was not yet ready to raise funds the arm and torch went on exhibition in Philadelphia. The Philippines were thrilled. The statue can rest here as a memorial to the Declaration of Independence. Americans began to embrace the idea of the statue. But faced with the prospect of paying for the pedestal, they were far from generous. Evening telegrams satirized Americans who were acting as if they'd forgotten the statue was coming and commented with sarcasm. We've reminded you often enough. Others commented, if America doesn't get going on the pedestal, she'll be past her prime before we get her over here. Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of The World, was angered by America's indifference. December 5, 1884, editorial. More appropriate would be a gift of a statue of parsimony than a statue of liberty if this is the appreciation shown. The statue was paid for by the French people. We must respond in like manner. Let us hear from the people. The world printed the names of every donor. We acknowledge the generous contribution from the Arctic Fire Engine Company number one of Milford, Connecticut. I have lost 25 pounds and I'm happily sending in a penny per pound. May heaven help you in your good work. It seems that New York's rich men do not. Enclosed $7.25. And after a whirlwind campaign of 21 weeks, Pulitzer achieved his goal. The mayor of New York declared, when the colossal figure is placed in New York Harbor, this city will indeed be exalted among all cities of the world by modern art. On October 28, 1886, President Cleveland, who had previously vetoed a bill for the statue's funding, proclaimed, we will not forget that liberty has made her home here, or shall her chosen altar be neglected. Suffragettes hired a boat to give speeches praising liberty and body as a woman, raising hope for all women. But to the man who conceived the statue, Bogus Bertoldi, the words of Laboulay seemed most fitting. A body of iron with a soul of fire. She had been created to symbolize the alliance between America and France, to cement their common ideals, liberty, freedom, equality, the shared aspirations of their people. Bertoldi had called her liberty and lightning the world, but already that meaning was changing. The poetess Emma Lazarus named her mother of exiles, giving her a new meaning. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door. First conceived as a symbol of friendship between America and France, the statue became a symbol of liberty for thousands of refugees sailing to American shores. Ellis Island, midpoint between the homeland and the destinies the new world had to offer. Each day they came past the statue, immigrants, now landless, often penniless, willing to sacrifice homeland, family, friends for the promise of a new beginning. The first sight of the statue still on their minds, but her meaning fading fast. Ellis Island, once the first stop for 20 million new Americans, is empty now, an abandoned relic of an earlier age. And who were these new Americans? They came from Poland and Germany, Russia, Ireland, Sweden, Italy. Everything seemed new, food, treatment, living quarters. They were aliens entering a world alien to them. The reasons for coming were many, economic, religious, political. Most could pass through in a day, others waited weeks to be cleared. Some rose to greatness as scientists, artists, as leaders in government, labor, and business. But the multitudes struggled. They did not know the immigration laws, they did not know the language. They never heard of San Francisco or St. Paul, Atlanta or Albuquerque, Chicago or Saugatuck. But they started out. The Statue of Liberty, originally designed as a symbol of Franco-American relations, became an American symbol, changing as America changed. The Statue of Liberty. To many Americans, still the nation's most popular first lady. A legendary ambassador of goodwill, numbers that visit her have not diminished. People come over a million a year from all over the world. She encompasses them all. Twenty years ago, the Statue of Liberty was the first thing I saw. She really has fulfilled every promise. I think it's just a tourist trap. It's commercial like everything else in America. I always thought the Statue of Liberty was our special symbol for democracy. I think she's taking a beating today. Everywhere I go, I see the Statue of Liberty. I can get away from her. People say that she's the eighth wonder of the world, but to me, she's just a beautiful green sculpture. It was a long climb to the top, but I'm glad we did it. I think she's a beautiful, beautiful statue. I just hope that we can keep what she stands for. I think we should. The Statue of Liberty. Famous lady and elusive symbol. A token of Franco-American friendship. A reminder from the old world of a political debt. An intellectual symbol for universal liberty. A birthday present for America's 100th anniversary, delivered 10 years late. The eighth wonder of the world. A place for political protest. A commercial symbol. A beacon of hope for immigrants. Thanks very much for joining us today. I hope you enjoyed the program. Until next time, this is John Boss for Arts America.