Influencing
Factors
It
was at the home of Edouard Rene Lefevbre de Laboulaye (d.1883) near Versailles
that the idea of a statue was first born. It was the year 1865, and
a small group of French men-of-letters, artists and politicians conceived
the idea of giving to America a token that would be a symbol of great friendship.
Sculptor Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) was present at the gathering, and
it was agreed that this token would be a statue representing freedom and
it was to be financed by the people of France.
DeLaboulaye
was a great admirer of the United States. He had printed a discourse
on the American Constitution and "the utility of studying it". He
also had written a paper on Benjamin Franklin and a novel where liberty
played an important role titled "Paris in America". (2) A gift of
this magnitude was of course not conceived and finalized in one night.
The Statue of Liberty was inaugurated eleven years after the French began
to raise funds for the sculpture.
Even
though the project was not to be financed by either government, leaders
of state, senators, ministers and diplomats took an active roll in the
process.
Years after the gathering
at de Laboulaye's home, a grand banquet was given to bring the project
into more prominence. Elihu B. Washburne, United States Ambassador
to France from 1869 to 1877, records that the banquet "was given on November
8, 1875 at the Hotel du Louvre . . . it was largely attended and
enlisted much support for a great national gift to America". (3)
To
raise funds to complete the project, banquets were held inside the statue.
The first affair had twenty-five places set at tables whithin Ms. Liberty's
kneecap; the second one was held in the thigh section; the third one inside
the stomach; and the last banquet for fifty people was held in the
head. (4)
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