Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty was designed by sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and built by Gustave Eiffel, as a gift to the United States from France. She arrived in 1885 on our shores in pieces after floating across the Atlantic in 214 crates. All the pieces were assembled on Liberty Island the following year. But by 1984, after welcoming immigrants to New York for almost 100 years, she was in bad shape. In this podcast, we’ll learn about how President Reagan in May 1982, 40 years ago, took action to return Lady Liberty to pristine condition. He called upon Lee Iacocca to create the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation to raise the funds necessary for the restoration, and by the 4th of July 1986, she was ready for her debut. In the second half of this podcast, we’ll focus on the final result.