1 minute read
The Torch
Statue of Liberty Torch
The Statue of Liberty was given as a gift from the citizens of France to the United States for their 100th anniversary commemoration in 1876, yet the statue didn’t officially open in New York City until a decade later. Why?
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While France offered the statue to the US as a gift, the base of the statue had to be paid for by the United States. At first, there was no money to build it. During the 1870s, Bartholdi sent the statue’s completed arm and torch to Philadelphia, then New York City, to show the quality of the final statue and to fundraise. Visitors were charged fifty cents to climb a ladder up the torch - money funding the future base of the statue. The full statue arrived in New York City in 1885.
We welcome you to admire this to-scale reproduction of the Statue of Liberty’s current torch, based on the original design by Bartholdi.
Activity & Discussion
Students are prompted to read the poem on the next page ("The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus), which is inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty. As they read it, they will underline any words or phrases that are new to them and put a star next to each line that they think mentions the torch.
You may choose to read the poem aloud and complete the activity together as a class.
Then, discuss what they think the poem means. What do they like about it? What questions do they have?
"The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
