<P> The Statue of Liberty is a figure of a robed woman representing Libertas, a Roman liberty goddess . She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed in Roman numerals with "JULY IV MDCCLXXVI" (July 4, 1776), the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence . A broken chain lies at her feet as she walks forward . The statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, and was a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad . </P> <P> Bartholdi was inspired by a French law professor and politician, Édouard René de Laboulaye, who is said to have commented in 1865 that any monument raised to U.S. independence would properly be a joint project of the French and U.S. peoples . Because of the post-war instability in France, work on the statue did not commence until the early 1870s . In 1875, Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue and the U.S. provide the site and build the pedestal . Bartholdi completed the head and the torch - bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions . </P> <P> The torch - bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square Park in Manhattan from 1876 to 1882 . Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened by lack of funds . Publisher Joseph Pulitzer, of the New York World, started a drive for donations to finish the project and attracted more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar . The statue was built in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island . The statue's completion was marked by New York's first ticker - tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland . </P> <P> The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War; since 1933 it has been maintained by the National Park Service . Public access to the balcony around the torch has been barred for safety since 1916 . </P>

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