ABSTRACT
The Statue of Liberty is one of the most widely recognized American icons. It is the work of a French sculptor, Frederic-Auguste Bertholdi, who collaborated with a French engineer, Gustave Eiffel, who designed the steel beams that support it. The poet Emma Lazarus wrote a poem, The New Colossus, that is part of the Statue of Liberty, engraved on a tablet on the base of the statue. Her poem reflects the sentiments the American public had about the significance of the Statue of Liberty. For the non-European immigrants, the ideals represented by the Statue of Liberty, not the statue, are the important thing. The notion that the United States is a land of opportunity is what is critical and what brings them here. They probably have seen images of the Statue of Liberty, and it still stands for them as a symbol of hope and opportunity.
