“In 1865, Edouard de Laboulaye, a French political thinker, U.S. Constitution expert, and abolitionist, proposed that a monument be built as a gift from France to the United States in order to commemorate the perseverance of freedom and democracy in the United States and to honor the work of the late president Abraham Lincoln.”
This gift would become the Statue of Liberty. It was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and built by Gustave Eiffel.
In this photo, the head of the Statue of Liberty is on display at the Paris World’s Fair, 1878.
“Head of the Statue of Liberty in Paris, 1878” source: Statue of Liberty, National Monument New York. “The French Connection.” National Park Service.
