On October 28, 1886, before a crowd gathered in New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty was formally dedicated as a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States. One hundred and forty years later, on October 28, 2026, New York once again celebrates the monument that has welcomed generations of travelers, immigrants, and visitors to American shores.
The Statue of Liberty is widely recognized as a symbol of freedom and democracy. It is also, and perhaps less often remembered, a monument to generosity. It was not commissioned by a government, nor paid for by a single patron. It was financed, on both sides of the Atlantic, by tens of thousands of ordinary citizens who chose to give, often modestly, to a shared ideal. In this sense, Lady Liberty stands as one of the earliest and most enduring expressions of French-American philanthropy.
A gift conceived as a shared endeavor
The idea of the Statue of Liberty was born in 1865, when the French jurist and political thinker Édouard de Laboulaye proposed that the people of France offer a monumental gift to the people of the United States. A fervent admirer of American democracy, Laboulaye wished to honor the approaching centennial of the Declaration of Independence and to celebrate the bond between the two nations. He was equally moved by the recent abolition of slavery in the United States, which he saw as a fulfillment of America’s founding ideals.
Among those present when Laboulaye shared his vision was the young sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi. Bartholdi began to imagine a colossal figure that would become known as Liberty Enlightening the World. Every element of the design carried meaning: a crown whose rays extend light to the world, a tablet inscribed with the date July 4, 1776, and, at her feet, a broken shackle and chain marking the end of slavery.
From the outset, the project was conceived as a joint undertaking. France would design, build, and deliver the statue; the American people would finance and construct the pedestal on which it would stand. The monument would depend, above all, on the willingness of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic to support it.
In France, a nation of subscribers
Political turmoil under the Second Empire and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 delayed the project for nearly a decade. Only in 1875, once the Third Republic was established, did Laboulaye and Bartholdi found the Franco-American Union to lead the effort. On September 28, 1875, the Union announced the project in the French press and invited the public to subscribe.
The campaign soon reached far beyond the elites who first championed the idea. Contributions came from schoolchildren, workers, ordinary citizens, and some 180 municipalities. Organizers used a remarkable range of methods: public festivities, a cantata by Charles Gounod performed at the Paris Opera, and the sale of photographs, terracotta models, and souvenirs. In 1878, the completed head was displayed at the Paris World’s Fair, where visitors could climb inside for a small fee. That same year, a national lottery was organized, as French law permitted lotteries for charitable and artistic causes.
The final cost reached approximately 2.25 million francs, or about $250,000 at the time, far more than first anticipated. By July 1882, the full amount had been subscribed. According to the National Park Service, the French Government had not been asked to contribute: the people of France paid for the statue entirely. Under Ferdinand de Lesseps, who succeeded Laboulaye in 1883, the statue, its iron framework engineered by Gustave Eiffel, was completed in Paris in July 1884.
In the United States, the power of small gifts
On the American side, the path proved more difficult. To show that the project was real, Bartholdi sent the completed right arm and torch to the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, then to Madison Square in New York. In January 1877, an American Committee led by William M. Evarts began raising funds for the pedestal, initially estimated at $125,000. Progress was slow: much of the press was skeptical, and many Americans regarded the project as “New York’s lighthouse” rather than a national undertaking.
The Committee organized benefit performances, art exhibitions, auctions, and even prizefights. For one such auction, in 1883, the poet Emma Lazarus composed The New Colossus, whose lines, later inscribed in the pedestal, would forever associate the statue with the welcome of immigrants. Yet by March 1885, the funds were nearly exhausted. Without an additional $100,000, construction would stop and the French gift could not be accepted. Appeals to the New York State Legislature and to Congress had failed.
Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-born immigrant and publisher of the New York World, then intervened. On March 16, 1885, his newspaper launched a public appeal, presenting the pedestal as a cause belonging to all Americans rather than to the wealthy. Pulitzer promised to print the name of every donor, whatever the size of the gift, and published many of the letters from children, workers, and families who gave what they could.
The response was extraordinary. By August 11, 1885, less than five months later, the New York World announced that more than 120,000 people had contributed over $100,000, most in gifts of one dollar or less. The pedestal, designed by Richard Morris Hunt, was completed in April 1886, and on October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty before thousands of spectators.
A pioneering model of cross-border philanthropy
Viewed from today, the financing of the Statue of Liberty appears remarkably modern. It is frequently cited as one of the earliest large-scale examples of what would now be called crowdfunding, and it was certainly among the first major philanthropic campaigns conducted across two continents.
Several features of the campaign anticipated practices that remain central to fundraising today. It relied on broad public participation rather than on a few major benefactors. It used the press as a channel to inform, mobilize, and report progress to the public. It offered donors tangible recognition, from printed names in the New York World to souvenirs and commemorative objects in France. It turned milestones, such as the display of the torch in Philadelphia or of the head in Paris, into opportunities to build trust and momentum. Above all, it gave each contributor, however modest the gift, a genuine sense of ownership in a shared achievement.
The campaign also illustrates a truth well known to those who work in philanthropy: generosity across borders depends on trust, on a clear sense of purpose, and on the conviction that each gift, large or small, contributes to something greater.
A tradition of generosity that endures
The spirit of collective giving that built the Statue of Liberty did not end in 1886. In 1982, as the monument approached its centennial, President Ronald Reagan asked Lee Iacocca, then Chairman of the Chrysler Corporation, to lead a private-sector effort to restore the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. This initiative gave rise to the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, which, working in partnership with the National Park Service, led a two-year restoration of the statue. Once again, the response came from the public at large, and the monument was reopened during the “Liberty Weekend” celebrations of July 1986. The replica of Bartholdi’s original torch installed during this restoration was crafted by French artisans, Les Métalliers Champenois, renewing the bond between the two nations a century after the original gift.
Since then, the Foundation has restored Ellis Island, created the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, made millions of arrival records freely accessible online, and, in 2019, opened the Statue of Liberty Museum on Liberty Island, where the original 1886 torch is now displayed. According to the Foundation, this work has been made possible by voluntary contributions from the American people, without the use of government funds.
Celebrating 250 years of friendship in 2026
At the dedication ceremony in 1886, President Grover Cleveland accepted the statue on behalf of the American people with a solemn promise: “We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected.” In 2026, a year that also marks the 250th anniversary of American independence, that promise has been honored on both sides of the Atlantic.
In early July, the Consulate General of France in New York celebrated both anniversaries with Liberty Lights, a sound, light, and laser show projected onto the Statue of Liberty and created by French artist Michael Canitrot with Monumental Tour. The evening brought together French and American dignitaries and representatives of the National Park Service, and was marked by a flyover of the Patrouille de France, which traced the colors of the French flag above Liberty Island. Broadcast on ABC in the United States and on France 2, the show allowed millions of viewers to rediscover the monument, once again as a gift from France.
In France, the anniversary has also inspired L’épopée de Lady Liberty, a ten-episode podcast series by Philippe Collin for France Inter, released in January 2026 as part of the series Face à l’histoire. Drawing on the expertise of historians and specialists of the United States, the series retraces the remarkable journey of Bartholdi, Laboulaye, and the many men and women who made the statue possible. Friends of Fondation de France wishes to acknowledge Anne Dias, whose support helped bring this project to life.
On October 28, 2026, the 140th anniversary of the dedication was celebrated in New York.
A living legacy of French-American generosity
One hundred and forty years after her dedication, the Statue of Liberty reminds us that the friendship between France and the United States has always been expressed through acts of giving. French schoolchildren and municipalities, American workers and families, and the donors who restored her a century later all shared the conviction that a common ideal is worth supporting, regardless of the size of the gift or the distance across the ocean.
Friends of Fondation de France, an independent U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 2000 and a partner of Fondation de France, is dedicated to advancing French-American philanthropy. Its work is rooted in this long history of generosity between the two nations. Today, it enables donors in the United States to support rigorously vetted nonprofits in France and beyond, through tax-deductible gifts.
As Lady Liberty enters her 141st year, we invite you to explore the projects that carry this tradition forward.
