Sunday, October 15, 2006

The New Colossus



After the success of my Goodie Room blog entry, I almost hate to move on, but I got some great pictures during our trip to Ellis Island and Liberty Island this weekend and I had to share.

My son has been wanting to see the Statue of Liberty so we decided to go on Saturday. We took the Circle Line and bought tickets that would allow us to go inside the base of the statue. I'd seen it from a Circle Line cruise years ago, but I'd never been on the island before. It's quite amazing.

Here are some facts I didn't know:

The statue is made from copper sheets that are no thicker than two pennies pressed together.

The original torch was also made of copper sheets, but holes were cut into it and glass put in so that the statue could serve as a lighthouse.

The original torch now stands inside the base of the statue. A new torch, covered with gold leaf, has no lights inside it. It reflects sunlight during the day and is lit with floodlights at night.

The statue remained its original copper color for about twelve years, then turned completely green.

The staircase up the arm into the torch has been closed to the public for 90 years. Water leakage caused by the conversion of the torch contributed to decay and instability of the arm.

The spiral staircase leading up to the crown has been closed since 9/11. Even Liberty State Park employees are not permitted inside.

The New Colossus is the title of the poem donated by Emma Lazarus to a fund raiser for the statue and later engraved on its pedastal.

Liberty Island










Ellis Island

4 comments:

Angela's Designs said...

Looks great! I went to NYC only once, and didn't get to Lady Liberty.

Jodie said...

Wow, I hope to see that one day... Looks great

Two Voices Publishing said...

It was a nice day. I would have liked to stay on Liberty Island longer, but we were all getting tired. Too much fresh air! I gave the kids disposable cameras and they had a ball taking pictures too.

Shelli Stevens said...

Great pics and info! Thanks for sharing :)