Big Apple History . Building the Big Apple . The Liberty Belle


	The head of the Statue of Liberty sits in a park before the statue is assembled.

"The folly of love... [is] sometimes curable, but no one was ever cured of a mania for liberty."

So wrote Édouard René de Laboulaye, a French politician with a love for America, in 1865. That same year, Laboulaye invited friends to his country house outside Paris. As they toasted the end of the American Civil War, Laboulaye made a suggestion: a gift from the French people to the American people. But what kind of gift? his guests asked.

Sculptor Frédéric Auguste de Bartholdi was sent to America for ideas. As his ship arrived in New York, an image came to him: a great female statue, standing on an island in the harbor. It would symbolize liberty and Franco-American friendship.

But a project this size required money and engineering. Thousands of French citizens offered donations. Gustave Eiffel -- who later built the famous tower in Paris -- created the statue's iron skeleton.

A project this size required money and engineering. Thousands of French citizens offered donations. Gustave Eiffel -- who later built the famous tower in Paris -- created the statue's iron skeleton. Now that the Statue of Liberty is one of the most famous structures in the world people often wonder: What about the face? Whose is it? The answer to this question is complicated. Some say Bartholdi, the sculptor, modeled it on his mother. Others claim it is the face of the sculptor's African girlfriend, with the nose changed to make it look more French. In either case, the statue points east Ð originally because the designers hoped to enlighten European countries (which still had kings and emperors) with the ideals of American democracy.

Illustration: Courtesy of the Library of Congress.