She was a present from France, her skeleton was built by the man who made the Eiffel Tower, and she used to be brown. Here's what I found out on Liberty Island.
The ferry from Manhattan takes about 15 minutes, and the moment the statue comes into view everyone rushes to the same side of the boat. I did too.
## A present with a catch
The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France, to celebrate freedom and friendship with the United States. The deal was that France paid for the statue and Americans paid for the stone pedestal underneath.
The Americans ran out of money. A newspaper owner called Joseph Pulitzer promised to print the name of everyone who gave, even a few cents. More than 120,000 people donated, including lots of children. She opened on 28 October 1886.
## Thin skin, strong bones
She is hollow. Her copper skin is only about 2.4 millimetres thick, which is less than two coins stacked together. What holds her up is an iron skeleton designed by Gustave Eiffel, the engineer who later built the Eiffel Tower. The skin is attached with springy bars so she can flex in the wind instead of cracking.
## Why she's green
She arrived the colour of a new coin. Over about 30 years the sea air turned the copper green. That green layer, called a patina, actually protects the metal, so nobody painted over it.
In the museum on the island I saw her original torch. It was retired in 1986 after years of leaks and repairs, and replaced with a new one covered in gold.
## Look for these
- **The tablet** says JULY IV MDCCLXXVI - 4 July 1776, the day the United States declared independence. - **A broken chain** at her feet, for freedom from slavery and cruel rulers. - **Seven rays** on her crown.
## What I learned
She was meant to be about freedom. But because ships full of new arrivals sailed right past her, and because of a poem by Emma Lazarus, she also became a sign of welcome. A statue can change what it means over time.