I love the words, but be sure to get the book because it has wonderful illustrations by Shawn Harris.
I'm continuing to type this up. I stopped after "Bedloe's Island. (There are no page numbers!)
Bartholdi liked to see the sculpture rise above the harbor. Sometimes he watched the construction from the water. Sometimes he watched it from the land. Usually he was wearing a sturdy black hat, for he, like most European men of the time, favored sturdy black hats.
You may have noticed by now that the pictures of the Statue of Liberty in this book have her colored brown. you may have thought the illustrator of this book was not so good at his job, because we all know the Statue of Liberty to be a certain greenish-blue. But the Statue of Liberty was made of copper, and copper starts out brown.
Then, very slowly, when left outside for long periods of time, copper will eventually oxidize, and when it does, it turns this blue-green color.
So the Statue of Liberty that everyone in New York saw being constructed was actually brown. The Statue of Liberty, in fact, was brown for about thirty-five years.
The statue turned green around 1920, and has been this color ever since. Perhaps you already knew this.
And you may have known that the book the statue is carrying, the one in her left hand, features the date, July 4, 1776, on which the Declaration of Independence was signed.
And you may know that the seven spikes on her crown represent the seven seas on Earth, and the seven continents, and the sun's rays, too.
And you probably know that the torch she carries is a symbol of enlightenment, lighting the path to liberty and freedom.
And you might have known that at one point, Thomas Edison, inventor of the lightbulb and the record player, once proposed to have a giant record player inside the Statue of Liberty. He did! He wanted the statue to be able to speak. In the end, though, this idea was considered a bit strange and was no pursued.
And did you know that the interior of the statue was designed by another Frenchman by the name of Eiffel? That's riht--the same Eiffel who, a few years later, would design the Eiffel Tower.
And did you know that while the statue was first being constructed in Paris, a bunch of Parisians, mostly writers--they like to eat--actually dined in the area just below the statues knee?
This, too, is true. While the statue was rising, Bartholdi set up a lunch, four stories up, to impress and enthrall these French writers, who, being difficult to impress and enthrall, were at least mildly amused.
But there is one thing that you might not know, and this is the central point to this book--a point the author apologizes for taking so long to get to.
The point is that even if you have seen a picture of the Statue of Liberty, or many pictures of the Statue of Liberty, or even hundreds of pictures of the Statue of Liberty, you probably have not seen pictures of her feet.
And even if you have seen pictures of her feet, you probably have not seen pictures of the back of her feet. In particular, her right foot.
What do you notice when you see this picture? (Buy the book!)
That's right! She is going somewhere! She is on the move!
Let's pause here and collect ourselves, and think about this.
Let's discuss this. Let's think about and discuss the fact that this is the largest sculpture in all the land, and the most iconic symbol of the United States of America. Let's talk about the fact that this statue has welcomed millions of visitors and immigrants to the USA.
People talk about her unusual headwear.
They talk about her gown, which seems a very heavy kind of garment, and would likely result in serious lower back issues.
They talk about her beautiful torch, and the severe look on her face.
But no one talks about the fact that she is walking! This 150-foot woman is on the go.
Every time we see the Statue of Liberty in pictures, or any time we imagine the Statue of Liberty, we see her standing still. Very still. Like, well, a statue.
But she is
moving. She weighs 450,000 pounds and wears a size 879 shoe, and she is
moving. How can we all have missed this? Or even if we saw this, and noticed this, how is it that we have seen and noticed a 450,000-pound human on her way somewhere and said, "
Eh, Just another 150-foot woman walking off a 150-foot pedestal?
And most important, where is she going? Is she going to SoHo to get a panini?
Is she going to the West Village to look for vintage Nico records?
No, no. She is facing southwest, so she is facing New Jersey. Could she be going to Trenton?
Wait. No. She is facing southeast. So she is not going to New Jersey. But she is going somewhere. But where? Why is she moving?
There are certain things we know. We know that around her feet are chains. They are broken chains, implying that she has freed herself from bondage. We know that Bartholdi wanted us to know this. He wanted us to see the chains. People have talked about the chains.
But few talk about the foot that is so obviously in mid-stride. About the fact that her entire right leg is in mid-stride.
What does this mean? What does this mean that we often forget about this right foot, this right leg?
Here is an idea.
Here is a theory.
Here is a reminder.
If the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom, if the Statue of Liberty has welcomed millions of immigrants to the United States, then how can she stand still?
Liberty and freedom from oppression are not things you get or grant by standing around like some kind of statue. No! These are things that require action. Courage. An unwillingness to rest.
