Zoom in Inquiry

Prints and Photographs

The Library of Congress

Anne VietmeyerGunston Elementary School

Fairfax County Public Schools

What do you see in this picture?

Can you guess a time frame?

Now what do you see?

How might this structure have been used?

What new information is in this picture?

What do you think of when you see this image?

How has the meaning of the statue changed over time?

……cries sheWith silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore;Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

November 2, 1883

The “New Colossus”Emma Lazarus

Emma Lazarus’s famous sonnet was written to celebrate the opening of the Statue of Liberty.

Does this symbol have special meaning for you or for someone in your family? In what ways are symbols used by cultures?

Fun Facts

The Statue was given by France to the people of the United States to recognize the friendship established during the American Revolution. The gift commemorated the Centennial of the American Declaration of Independence.

Did you know the statue was actually built on an old fort? Fort Wood was used during the War of 1812.

The statue arrived in New York Harbor in June of 1885 and was dedicated on October 28, 1886, ten years late for the centennial of our Independence.

The tablet in the statue’s left hands reads July 4th, 1776 (in Roman numerals). The 25 windows in the crown symbolize gemstones found on the earth and the heaven’s rays shining over the world. The seven rays of the crown represent the seven seas and continents. http://www.nps.gov/stli/

CreditsThe Library of Congress (http:www.loc.gov)

Prints and Photographs Division

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?pp/ils:@filreq(@field(NUMBER+@band(cph+3a05775))+@field(COLLID+pga))

Title:  The great Bartholdi statue, Liberty enlightening the world--The gift of France to the American people

Summary:  The Statue of Liberty; and ships in New York Harbor in background.

Medium:  1 print : lithograph.

Created/Published:  New York : Published by Currier & Ives, c1883.

Click on the airplane to visit The Statue of Liberty today.