Ira: Welcome to T2A Chat as we meet Barry Moreno, the librarian and historian at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty National Monument. We are just in time for 2009's Fourth of July weekend, to celebrate the USA's Independence Day. This Fourth of July, the iconic Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor on Liberty Island will reopen her crown to the public, after several years of being off limits. Officially named Liberty Enlightening the World, the Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French to the United States in 1886, in celebration of the American centennial. Barry joins us from New York to explain.

When was the Statue of Liberty first erected and why?

Barry: The Statue of Liberty was erected in 1886, so it's been here a long time. It was brought here as a gift from France to remind the United States of the close friendship between France and the United States ever since France helped the United States win its Revolutionary War against England. However, it was given by the Franco-American Union, a political group, and not by the French government itself.

The Statue is a symbol of the United States' unique record of democracy which began in 1783. The US had a government without totalitarianism, without a king and yet had no civil disturbances, which was very impressive. A jurist, teacher, and anti-slavery activist who helped establish the Third Republic in France, Édouard René de Laboulaye, got the idea to give the United States a symbol of liberty. That was after the end of the US Civil War which had saved the Union and ended slavery. The designer and sculptor of the Statue was a friend of his, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi. 

Ira: Why was it a private group and not the government of France that gave the United States the Statue?

Barry: Well, during that time period France was going through a difficult transition from the authoritarian Napoleon III to a republican democracy, it was a very controversial period. A republican democracy was not widely wanted by the French, many people wanted to bring back the House of Bourbon monarchists. There was a lot of debate and disagreement over what type of government to have.

Laboulaye wanted to have a moderate democracy like in the United States instead of radical republicanism as an example for France. Liberty is an official symbol of the French Republic. In Rome, Liberty was a goddess and was portrayed on coins, while the French have Liberty the Goddess on their state seal. It was a very difficult time period, the French were divided over having a liberal republic versus a conservative republic or even a king, a constitutional monarch. Laboulaye wanted a conservative republic.

Ira: Are there other Lady Liberty's around the world? I remember getting one as a kid.

Barry: There are millions of little statues sold to tourists, yes of course. But there are also hundreds of large replicas of the Statue of Liberty, meaning large-scale 9 feet (3 meters) tall. There are many in France and in the US, there is one in Argentina, in England and in Vietnam. There are also similar symbols of liberty, it was a tradition to have goddesses symbolizing your country. In Britain they have Britannia, which is similar to the Statue of Liberty but she is a symbol in artwork, not just one statue. The US had Columbia, but she was dethroned by the Statue of Liberty. France has La France, a female figure holding a torch. Ancient Rome had Roma on coins to symbolize Rome.

Ira: Why was the Statue closed down and why is it now being reopened?

Barry:  The Statue of Liberty has been closed for 7.5 years since September 11, 2001. The horrendous terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon closed the Statue Monument Park and Ellis Island that morning, and we kept both parks closed until December 20, 2001. Ellis Island was then completely reopened, but the Statue of Liberty was kept closed except for the grounds around it. The pedestal reopened in August 2004 with new security and fire safety measures added. Now the crown is going to be reopened on July 4 2009.

Ira: When will the Statue be open again to the public and what should people expect? How tough is the climb up the winding staircase?

Barry: The National Park Service (NPS) under the Secretary of the Interior announced no more than 30 people per hour will be allowed up to the crown. There will be lots of competition for the tickets, and people should get tickets ahead of time, because there is a huge demand for them. The tickets are already sold out for July and August.

Ira: How can our overseas audience get tickets if they live in China?

Barry:  They can go online and order tickets on the Statue of Liberty ticket website. They should buy them a few months in advance because the tickets get sold really fast. It is very, very strenuous to climb, the staircase is circular and very narrow, very precipitous. The Statue is the world's biggest metal sculpture and it was not made for mass visitation. People should not go up it if they have heart problems or are ill, climbing has made people ill in the past. You will be able to see up to the top from a glass ceiling in the pedestal without actually going into it.

Ira: No elevators, right?

Barry: No elevators.

How has Lady Liberty become a symbol of liberty for all over the world? Does it have any other symbolic meanings? Wendy, China (email)

Barry: It is a symbol of political liberty. The French were noting the US government was a democracy. In the 1880s, democracy was very rare in the world. The United States was remarkable because it was such a big country and a democracy at the same time. Switzerland was a democracy too, but it is a small country while the US had democracy on a grand scale. Due to the United States' rising power and rising wealth, and the millions of immigrants who came to its shores for a better life and saw the Statue, the Statue became more and more famous. It stood for liberty during World War I, World War II, against the Nazis, fascists, and communists. It became a universal symbol of hope for millions of people. It also became famous because it was a woman, not just a flag or a piece of cloth. You can see her face, her classical Roman goddess appearance. People respond more to the human figure, rather than a symbol like the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. A bell doesn't have the same effect as a person.

Ira: I've heard about the Black Tom attack during World War I. What can you tell us about this event?

Barry: The Black Tom attack was one of the earliest foreign enemy attacks on US soil. German saboteurs knew the US was shipping arms to Russia, so they blew up the munitions dock area on a little island area, right behind the Statue of Liberty. It was right on the Jersey Shore, less than half a mile from the Statue. The explosion was terrific, it killed 7 people, shattered windows, and bolts popped out of the arm of the Statue of Liberty and caused millions of dollars of damage, and they closed it the next morning. That resulted in torch restoration. The torch had been closed to the public prior to the explosion for safety reasons. There is only a ladder up to her arm, a very tight squeeze, not good for crowds. It couldn't accommodate all the people. The arm and the upper level have to be cared for. Now the torch is covered in gold.

Ira: That is some really interesting stuff. Is Black Tom Island near the Liberty Science Center?

Barry: The Liberty Science Center is nearby. Black Tom was not a real island, it was a very long pier that had been built up to store cases and casks.

Ira: Thanks Barry. Fascinating. There is also Ellis Island nearby with a display on immigration, it is something to see. You can learn more about the Statue of Liberty and its surrounding sites at http://www.nps.gov/stli. We hope you can come back on Wednesday, July 8 at 1800 UTC when we take a look at the serious issue of e-waste pollution, about what happens to all the old computer and tech equipment after it is thrown away. That's Wednesday, July 1 at 1800 UTC on voanews.com. Until next time!