Liberty’s French benefactors bankrolled the statue but left it to America to build and fund the pedestal. When early New York fundraisers failed, Boston and Philadelphia offered to pay the full ...

The Statue of Liberty and her sonnet "The New Colossus" was written in 1883 by Emma Lazarus to help raise funds for construction of the towering sculpture's pedestal.

On August 5, 1884, William A. Brodie laid the cornerstone of the pedestal on which the Statue of Liberty stands.

If the work is not interrupted it will be entirely completed and ready for the statue Nov. 1.” Joseph Pulitzer’s ad in the New York World calling on all readers to crowd fund the statues pedestal.

Lady Liberty — full name “ Liberty Enlightening the World ” — was conceptualized by French anti-slavery activist Édouard de Laboulaye in 1865 to honor the centennial of the U.S. Declaration of ...