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Spring
Semester 2000,
Vol. 11, no. 1
Lesson I: Liberty?s Place in History
Rationale
As
an introduction to the Statue of
Liberty, students will investigate the relationship between the statue
and the world around it. Students
will research scientific, artistic, cultural, and literary world history,
focusing on events they find interesting or that seem to connect to the
construction of the statue. They
will work collaboratively to create a timeline that documents the process
of the statue?s creation and the changes in the world that coincided
with this process. Students
will create this timeline as a way to share with others how they see the
Statue of Liberty fitting into world history.
Overview
In
this lesson students will research the elaborate process that led to the
unveiling of the Statue of Liberty
in 1886. They will discover
that many people contribute to the creation of an artwork and the local
and worldwide events that affect and influence that creation. Students will note the changes the statue underwent, offering
explanations for these changes based on their investigation of the
statue?s history. They will
develop an understanding of the connection between disciplines, creating a
timeline that displays how one person or event can alter the course of
another event. The activity
in this lesson includes elements of art production, art criticism, and art
history. Suggestions for
aesthetics and other activities are provided in Extensions.
Objectives
Students
will:
-
research
the creation of the Statue of
Liberty to discover how the statue reflects historical changes in art,
politics, science, and everyday life.
-
create
a collaborative exhibition including both writing and pictures documenting
the place of the statue in history.
-
write
essays and stories about their research, comparing the Statue of Liberty to other sculptural artworks of the late 19th
century.
Materials
and Resources
Materials
-
photocopies
of worksheets
-
photocopies
of information about the history of the statue
-
materials
needed to create timeline display (cardboard or posterboard, glue,
scissors, paper, pens, pencils, crayons, other materials as determined by
students)
-
images or drawings to paste onto timeline
Reproductions
Resources
Internet
sites to research the Statue of
Liberty:
Internet
sites to research world history:
Planning
and Preparation
-
Familiarize
yourself with the information provided in this packet on the
Statue of Liberty and world history.
The websites listed above are excellent sources for finding
information and images to include in the timeline.
-
Determine
ahead of time if students will paste computer-generated images, magazine
pictures, personal drawings, or a combination of all three onto the
timeline.
Background
Information for Teachers
?In a century the centenary of independence will be celebrated again.
We shall then be only forgotten dust.
America, who will then have more than a hundred million
inhabitants, will be ignorant of our names.
But the Statue will remain.?
Edouard de Laboulaye, 1875
For
more than 100 years, the Statue of
Liberty has been a universally recognized symbol of the United States
and, perhaps more importantly, the principles of freedom and hope. Liberty,
rising almost 300 feet above the harbor of New York City, is depicted as a
heroic, classical woman carrying a tablet of law inscribed with the date
of the American Declaration of Independence. Her crown of seven rays
represents both the seven oceans and the seven continents and the broken
shackles of oppression lie at her feet as she holds high the torch of
freedom. The copper from which she is constructed has long been green as a
result of the chemical effects of the wind, rain, and weather upon the
metal.
Frederic-Auguste
Bartholdi, one of the foremost sculptors in France at the time, is the
designer of the colossal Statue of
Liberty. Though Bartholdi
did sculpt the clay models, design the statue, find the site for the
statue, and guide much of the construction, he could not have done it
without the united efforts of many people, both French and American.
At
an 1865 dinner in France held by Edouard de Laboulaye, Laboulaye told
Bartholdi about his idea of a monument to celebrate the friendship between
France and the United States and symbolize the American dream of liberty.
Bartholdi had long dreamed of building a monumental sculpture and
showed interest in Laboulaye?s idea.
As a result of this dinner, Laboulaye and some of his friends
formed the French-American union to raise funds for the proposed statue.
In
1871, Bartholdi visited America. Upon entering New York harbor, he
realized where he wanted to place his proposed sculpture. He wanted to place his monument, a ?Gateway to America,?
on Bedloe?s Island, a small island that offered the first view of the
New World for passengers arriving by sea.
The island, at the time, home only to an abandoned fort, would not
dwarf the statue, whose gigantic size would be in keeping with its ideals.
When
Bartholdi returned to France, he began a series of small clay models of
?his American,? called Liberty
Enlightening the World. He
decided that he would use copper for his structure because cast bronze or
stone would be both too expensive and too heavy.
He asked his former teacher, Viollet-le-Duc, to design the
statue?s interior structure and skin attachment system.
Liberty would be the first statue in which one could climb up
inside. Many believe that
Bartholdi used the face of his mother as the model for Liberty?s
head and his wife for her arms.
After
Bartholdi built 1/3-scale models, a group of artisans in Paris built
full-size, separate plaster sections of the statue.
Over 100,000 individual measurements were taken while building the
separate sections. Workers
then shaped over 300 copper plates against the individual pieces. This technique of creating sculptural forms by hammering
sheet metal inside molds is called repousse.
One section of the statue, the arm holding the torch, was sent to
Philadelphia in 1876 for America?s 100th birthday
celebration. The head of the statue was displayed at the World?s Fair in
Paris in 1878 where visitors were able to climb inside for a small fee.
In 1879, le-Duc died, so Bartholdi asked fellow Frenchman Alexandre
Gustave Eiffel (who would later design the Eiffel Tower) to replace le-Duc.
Though
many people in France and America helped raise funds for the statue, at
times, it was feared that a lack of money would prevent the statue from
being constructed. For
example, in 1885, the statue was completed and packed in over 200 crates
and shipped to America. Unfortunately, it remained stored in its crates
until the summer of 1886, until the funds were raised to complete the
pedestal base, designed by American architect Richard Morris Hunt.
Newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer helped in the effort to raise funds by
printing the names of everyone who donated money to complete the statue,
no matter how small the contribution. Liberty was finally unveiled in 1886 with speeches, songs, and
fireworks. On January 1, 1892, nearby Ellis Island opened as an
immigration station for America, emphasizing the Statue
of Liberty as a symbol of both freedom and welcome.
Repairs
have been made to the Statue of
Liberty over the years, with the most significant restoration
occurring from 1982-1986, the 100-year anniversary of the statue?s
dedication. Tourists flock everyday to take the ferry to the Statue and
then to her companion, Ellis Island.
The
following poem by Emma Lazarus was published in 1883 as a result of a
poetry contest held by newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer to raise money
for the statue?s completion.
Two
Poems on the Statue of Liberty
Statue
of Liberty Timeline
Vocabulary
Bibliography
Instruction
Worksheet
1
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