Lady Liberty Speaks

Statue of Liberty National Monument

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from the people of France; conceived and designed as a monument to a great international friendship, which has become a universal symbol of liberty. The Statue of Liberty was sculpted by Federic-Auguste Bartholdi and was titled “Liberty Enlightening the World”. It was dedicated on October 28,1886 and accepted by President Grover Cleveland on behalf of the United States. In 1984, the Statue of Liberty was closed for a 2-year restoration project. Over 100 million dollars was donated and raised to restore the "copper lady", in time for the Statue’s 100th birthday on July 4,1986.


  Standard Metric
Height from top of base to torch 151’1” 46.05m
Ground to tip of torch 305’1” 92.99m
Heel to top of head 111’1” 33.86m
Length of hand 16’5” 5.00m
Index finger 8’0” 2.44m
Head chin to cranium 17’3” 5.26m
Head thickness (ear to ear) 10’0” 3.05m
Distance across the eye 2’6” .76m
Length of nose 4’6” 1.37m
Length of right arm 42’0” 12.80m
Thickness of right arm 12’0” 3.66m
Thickness of waist 35’0” 10.67m
Width of mouth 3’0” .91m
Length of table 23’7” 7.19m
Width of table 13’7” 4.14m
Thickness of table 2’0” .61m
Ground to top of pedestal 154’0” 46.94m

Weight of copper used in Statue: 179,200 pounds*

Weight of steel used in Statue: 386,800 pounds*

Weight of concrete foundation: 4 million pounds (27,000 tons

Copper sheeting of Statue is 3/32 of an inch thick (2.37mm)

The seven rays on the crown represent the seven seas and continents. Written on the tablet are the Roman numerals, “JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4th, 1776), America’s independence day.

*Noted in the book Restoring the Statue of Liberty by Richard Seth Hayden and Thierry Despont

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