10 Things You Didn't Know About the Statue of Liberty (She Was Almost Gold!)
In honor of the Fourth of July, we asked Elizabeth Mitchell , author of the new book Liberty’s Torch , an account of the Statue of Liberty’s bumpy history and the life of her creator, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, to reveal some little-known facts about America’s most famous monument. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Every year, New York hosts the largest July 4th fireworks display in the country. This year, the blasts will be going off from the Brooklyn Bridge and the waters around the Statue of Liberty as Lady Liberty gazes out in her usual imperturbable fashion. We take this icon for granted—the perfect backdrop for celebrations of American patriotism. But few people know the fascinating story of how she came to be, and how one quirky visionary, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, battled naysayers, engineering impossibilities, and a raging storm during transport to put the Lady on her feet in New York harbor. My new book, Liberty’s Torch: The Great Adventure to Build t...