Liberty Island’s Dynamic Past
Since she was reassembled in the United States and begun her proud residence in America, the Statue of Liberty has led a wild and adventurous “life” as one of the country’s most prominent monuments. In the decades that followed her establishment, she became an increasingly significant symbol and source of inspiration to the immigrant men, women, and children who sailed under her gaze on the last leg of their trip to New York’s shores. She was made even more spectacular, given her position inside the courtyard of Fort Wood’s star-shape walls - a military installation that dated back to the War of 1812.
The United States Lighthouse board was charged with operating and maintaining the Statue of Liberty until the start of the 1900s. At that time, the War Department took over. On October 15, 1924, A Presidential Proclamation officially declared Fort Wood - and, by extension, the Statue of Liberty which stood on its grounds - a National Monument. As the 1930s got underway, administration of the National Monument transferred onto the National Park Service where it remains. In 1937, all of Bedloe’s Island (now called Liberty Island) was put under the National Park Service’s jurisdiction. Ellis Island was folded into the same management on May 11, 1965, and officially became a part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
In the beginning of the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan assigned Lee Iacocca to lead a private sector-funded restoration of the Statue of Liberty. Lacocca was, at the time, the Chairman of the Chrysler Corporation and led the charge for what was an $87 million restoration effort. They established a public/private partnership between the government’s National Park Service and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. Even today, this effort remains the most successful partnership of its type in our nation’s history.
As part of the restoration work, the French and Americans once again teamed up, as architects, engineers, and conservators from both countries joined together to figure out exactly how to best preserve the Statue for generations to come. They erected scaffolding and repaired holes, removes paint, and replaced rusting iron with stainless steel. The flame and parts of the torch that had been damaged by water over the decades was replaced by an exact replica. They took special care to recreate Bartholdi’s original plans, to the smallest detail. On July 5, 1986, a newly refurbished Statue reopened in celebration of the 100-year anniversary.
