A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.

On Oct. 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland.

According to officials records, the statue, on Liberty Island in New York Bay, commemorates the friendship of the peoples of the United States and France. Standing 305 feet high, it represents a woman holding a torch in her raised right hand and a tablet bearing the adoption date of the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) in her left. The torch, which measures 29 feet from the flame tip to the bottom of the handle, is accessible via a 42-foot service ladder inside the arm.

An elevator carries visitors to the observation deck in the pedestal, which may also be reached by stairway, and a spiral staircase leads to an observation platform in the figure’s crown. A plaque at the pedestal’s entrance is inscribed with a sonnet, “The New Colossus” (1883) by Emma Lazarus. It was written to help raise money for the pedestal, the last five lines, which were inscribed on a bronze plaque in the pedestal in 1903:

“Give me your tired, your poor,

“Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

“The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,

“Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

“I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

The Deseret News reported on the dedication in 1886.

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicated the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.

Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about the Statue of Liberty:

In this June 2, 2009, photo, the Statue of Liberty is seen in New York harbor. | Associated Press

Statue of Liberty is set to reopen today

Researching family history: Did immigrating ancestors see the Statue of Liberty?

Ellis Island tales of history now online

The Statue of Liberty was originally going to be a Muslim woman

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Opinion: Abravanel Hall is a symbol of Utah’s heritage

The Statue of Liberty and today

Perspective: The Democrats need a symbol. I vote for the Statue of Liberty

‘Utah’s gift to the nation’ — Statue of Responsibility inches closer to home in Utah

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We were there: See Deseret News front pages from 45 big moments in Utah, world history
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