This item provides information on the presenting and accepting of the Statue of Liberty as a gift from the French People. It was enclosed in a despatch from Levi P. Morton, United States Minister to France, July 5, 1884. This colorfully illustrated document presented “Liberty Enlightening the World” to the United States on July 4, 1884. A gift from the people of France, the Statue of Liberty was accepted by the U.S. Minister to France, Levi P. Morton, in Paris, on behalf of the people of the United States. The statue, work of sculptor A. Bartholdi, was installed in New York Harbor in 1886.
Text adapted from “The Statue of Liberty Deed of Presentation” in the September 1992 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
