I LIFT MY LAMP: The Way of a Symbol

Exhaustive examination of the many sources that have gone into the building of the Statue of Liberty, as a physical monument and as a spiritual symbol. From the death of Lincoln, and the effect on French liberals, to the casual conversation of Laboulaye and its effect on Bartholdi, then to the coming of the Centennial and the possibility of a joint enterprise, this story gives the slow motion, often halted steps of the project, the inertia, the conflict of the ideas behind the construction. There is the eventual official recognition, then the years when the statue was virtually homeless, the ceremonies over here, after the long fight for the installation, and once again public apathy and neglect, until the war brought new meaning to the statue. Here are the people, little and big, who had a part in endowing the monument with symbolic tradition; here are the trends of and events in history that helped to add or detract from her inspiration. This manages to include direct as well as indirect events in the statue's story. Special- and specialized- footnote to history.