Statue of Liberty Change of Meaning

          151 feet tall, 22 stories high, 225 tons is what is now know as the Statue of Liberty. Though the meaning of this iconic symbol has changed over the years. When it was first built by Fredrick-Auguste Bartholdi it was seen as liberty from America. People of Rome believed it was the goddess Libertas, in classical Rome meaning liberty and freedom. It was also a symbol of slavery and opposition. After the Spanish American War it was American Might. Not until the 1900's was it seen by Immigrants as a welcome and a symbol of hope. In 1883 Emma Lazarus's donated her poem, "The New Colossus" for the Statue of Liberty. This poem drove immigrants there, saying that it offered refuge to immigrants. 

 The Judge:The Proposed Emigrant  Dumping Site

Not all people saw the statue as a good symbol. To the middle class American the newspaper posted this political cartoon.This cartoon shows the Statue of Liberty as an Immigrant dumping ground. It shows European garbage ships dumping immigrants onto the Statue of Liberty. This cartoon also shows the Lady Liberty pulling up her robe because of the immigrants, as she has a stern face. At the bottom it states, "If you are going to make this island a garbage heap, I'm going back to France."

         September 11, 2001 changed the meaning of the statue in a big way. The Eighth Avenue and West 48th Street fire department was the first to respond to the collapsing of the Worlds Trading Center. This department lost 15 of their men in this devastating event. A Statue of Liberty replica stood at this station, it was unknown who put it there. People put messages, pictures, flags, and other memory's from their loved ones. http://ladyliberty.911memorial.org/#/Explore/1  In this website is an interactive picture of the famous Statue of Liberty replica.

        After 9 11 the Statue of Liberty was closed until 2004 the lower deck opened back up. The statue was seen as a place of attack during these times. Especially since July 30, 1916 when Germans caused a explosion damaging the statue at $2 million damage. It was always closing and opening due to fear of attack.
          The Statue of Liberty has always been a powerful figure throughout history. No matter what it was symbolizing at the time it had a meaning. It was hope, a goddess, pointless, a place for freedom, a dumping site, a place of attack, but it was always liberty.


Sources
http://history1800s.about.com/od/tothenewworld/f/Statue-of-Liberty-and-Immigration.htm
http://www.nps.gov/stli/historyculture/the-immigrants-statue.htm
http://ladyliberty.911memorial.org
http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1897552,00.html
http://ladyliberty.911memorial.org/#/Explore/1