The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1983 (10. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1983-11-01 / 11. szám
Page 10 THE EIGHTH HUNGARIAN TRIBE November, 1983 “Miss Liberty” visits the American Ambassador in Paris on July 4,1884. —From Time Books MEANWHILE, IN PARIS Once more now, to Paris. On July 4, 1884, another meeting. This one was solemn and triumphant. The Franco-American Union, now presided over by Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, members of the French Government, and the American Ambassador, met before a distinguished gathering for the official transfer of the statue from the people of France to the people of the United States. (Count de Lesseps, now a man of eighty, was already planning his own next great project — a Canal between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans — the Panama Canal!) “Miss Liberty” had just received her citizenship papers! She was now a citizen of the United States of America! HOME TO AMERICA In more than two hundred packing cases, the mighty statue prepared for her journey. Each item, each box, was carefully numbered and lettered. Loaded on board the French steamer “Isere,” the precious cargo left Rouen on May 21, 1885. On June 17, it arrived off Sandy Hook. New York opened her arms in a spectacular welcome. Parades, flags, streamers, booming guns from the North Atlantic Squadron of the United States Navy and roars from cheering throngs greeted the great lady. All the indifference, the hostility and the suspicions evaporated into the Spring air. The reception was heartwarming, overwhelming, and, when the noise subsided and the crowds disappeared, the work began. Piece by piece the framework was reassembled. The skeleton loomed in the harbor like a great oil derrick. After the skeleton came the copper sheathing. The first rivet driven was named for Auguste Bartholdi, great sculptor of France. The second for Joseo1- Pulitzer. Hun»ariar immigrant, now citizen of the United States! By October 26,1886, the last rivet was set in place — the last of more than a quarter-million. The “Statue of Liberty” had come home! Affixed to the base of this awesome monument is a bronze plaque bearing what are probably the best known lines of poetry in the world. Emma Lazarus, the famous American poetess, had been persuaded to write a fitting poem for this memorable occasion. Her words have since become symbolic not only of the statue alone, but also of the underlying principles on which our Republic stands — the principles that stir the hearts of freedom-loving people all over the world. The words of Emma Lazarus’ poem and the unquenchable torch of liberty that greet arrivals at the gateway to America now kindle pride in American hearts and remain beacons of hope for the world’s oppressed
