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Liberty: Mother of Exiles (2019)
Woman (as Emma Lazarus):
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. -(thunder cracks) -From her beacon-hand Glows worldwide welcome... "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. (crowd cheering) "Give me your tired, your poor, "Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." Right here, right now! Woman (as Emma Lazarus): "The wretched refuse of your teeming shores. "Send these, the tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" (helicopter whirring) Man: Welcome to the groundbreaking for the Statue of Liberty Museum. (crowd cheering) Stephen Briganti: The new building will make it possible for each visitor to view the statue's treasures. In order to build a $70 million museum, we have to have a dynamic campaign leader. Diane von Frstenberg: To liberty! (crowd cheers, whistles) Von Furstenberg: I love-- how do you say... (indistinct) Magdalena. -Magdelena... Godmother, yes! -The godmother. -You understand. -Is that the word? Magdalena? -Madrina. -Magdalena? -Madrina. Madrina. -Madrina... And now, it's my great honor to introduce the godmother of the Statue of Liberty, Diane von Furstenberg. (applause) Von Furstenberg: The thing is, I'm not really good at fundraising. As a matter of fact, I usually sign a check and get it over with. -(audience laughs) -But this time, however, I had to raise the funds, because what she represents out there is everything that has to be protected. Lady Liberty is like a logo for freedom, but she has a face and she has a story, and the story behind her is this fight for freedom. -(echoing): Freedom. Freedom. -Man: Let's go! Step up! (echoing): Freedom. Freedom. (passengers chattering) Woman (over PA): On behalf of the National Park Service, welcome aboard. Oh, cool! Our high school, Ellis Prep, serves students who just got to the country. This is really the only school they can go to that helps immigrants get a high school education in New York. They often know no words in English. (man shouts in foreign language) Woman (over PA): We're now on our way to the Statue of Liberty at Liberty Island. Boy: My name is Joseph Sandani. I'm from Yemen. I just come from Yemen because we have-- we always have a war. My name is Rajoul Rasby, and I'm from Bangladesh. -Let's go look at it. -Rasby: In my school, we say like, "Today's immigrant, tomorrow's future." That's quote we say in our school. Woman: Come on, Neemah! Girl: I come from Africa, West Africa in Togo. Boy: I came from Barkina Faso, West Africa. (boy 2 speaking Spanish) Woman (over PA): This view is similar to the one seen by many thousands of immigrants as they entered the US by steamship. (excited chattering, cheering) Shouts and cries of joy would erupt from the steamer decks. Gone are the giant steamships, but some things remain the same. America is still a nation of immigrants, and New York City remains a gateway for many. Man: My name is Peter Wong. I was born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Seventy-five percent of New York City today are either first- or second- generation immigrants. My mom immigrated from Hong Kong with a suitcase filled with clothing, an iron, and a rice cooker. And one of the first things that she wanted to do was come to the Statue of Liberty. Man: Welcome to Liberty Island. My name is Reneel Langdon, one of the park rangers here. I was born on a tiny Caribbean island, by the name of Grenada. I came to the United States when I was 17 years old. So, behind me, we have the Statue of Liberty. Her real name, the name given to her by the person who created her, is "Liberty Enlightening the World." They had the idea to build her in 1865, and she was standing here in 1886. Twenty-one years. Twenty-one years is what it took to build the Statue of Liberty. Who came up with this idea? Someone had to have had the idea! His name was douard de Laboulaye. He was a French political thinker. He rallied and fought against slavery. But in France, Mr. Laboulaye does not have the freedom and the liberty that he wants to celebrate in the United States. Woman: My name is Agathe de Laboulaye and douard de Laboulaye was my great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- -great-grandfather. -(laughs) That's maybe one great too much. -(laughing) -One great too much! (laughs) From the very start, the idea was that the statue would be a present from the French people to the American people, to symbolize the importance of democracy. Langdon: No one thought America would work out. -No one thought America would last. -Girl: Hmm. Because Americans were experimenting with a very crazy idea, which no one else in the world had really much success with at that time! -A democracy? -Democracy! It was a crazy idea because in the rest of the world, there were kings, and queens, and royal families. So, the United States is embarking on this new system of government of the people, for the people, by the people. And in 1865, the Civil War ended in the United States, and now you have slaves that were set free. -(gunshot echoes) -Stanislas: Just a few days after Lincoln's assassination, Laboulaye organized this dinner where the young sculptor, Bartholdi, was invited. Young Bartholdi was kind of shy, but the idea of building a huge statue was put forward. Langdon: Now, what you can't see from here is what's at her feet. -Rasby: I saw a picture. -You saw a picture! What did you see on that picture? -There is a broken chain. -Broken chains and shackles. -What does it look like she's doing? -Girl: Walking. Langdon: She's walking forward, exactly! Freedom does not sit. And she's about to step out of her chains and shackles, with her torch, seven days of the week, to the seven seas, and as citizens of a democracy, we too are able to move freedom forward. (echoing): Forward. Forward. Forward... (man speaking French) So... I think it's here. Oh. Liberty is always a conquest. It's there. It's not done. We have lost the statue. (laughs) Belot: The Statue of Liberty is very well-known through the world, and why Bartholdi is quite unknown? You know, it is this distortion that interests me. What's going on? Oh, here. Look. Here. Here it is. All his life was dedicated to his art, but also dedicated to a certain idea of mankind. Of the ideal of humanity, you know? Fraternity, universality, cooperation between the nations. (Belot speaking French) (camera clicks) Von Furstenberg: I first came to this country in 1970. I was pregnant and I had lots of ideas about building a business, and I decided to come by boat because I thought if I came by boat, it would go slowly, and therefore, I would have time to incubate and to think about the future. I remember arriving here in the morning and seeing her, Lady Liberty, thinking, she's wearing a toga. It's feminine, and yet her posture is so strong. Man: Welcome back. It was a little warmer last time we were out. This is the first day of steel, so we're erecting steel. Von Furstenberg: It's always nice to see when things erect, no? So, here you are! You'll be going up. This is it. Nicholas Garrison: The museum project was the brainchild of the superintendent on the island who got constant complaints about people coming to the island and being disappointed that they couldn't go into the monument itself. What we wanted to do was to create a museum that would actually bring the story of the statue to life. There's no greater symbol of liberty than the torch, and it was something that we designed the building around, so the original torch will always be on display. The torch is the literal light of the statue that was called Liberty Enlightening the World. This is one of my favorite moments in the whole building. When you get to walk around the torch and feel just how huge it is. There's nothing else here. It's just you and the torch and statue and the city and the harbor. Hi! Man: You're right at the entrance to the museum right now. These are the revolving doors. Von Furstenberg: I never thought I would have a personal relationship with her. But it doesn't matter how many times you see her... Wow! ...it's always special. She always captures something. (metal clangs) -Man: I'm from Staten Island. -Von Furstenberg: Oh, you are? So, you see her all the time. And I tell people that the best ride in New York -is the Staten Island Ferry. -I know, I know. -She's nice, huh? We forget about her. -Man: Yeah. Oh. (ship's horn bellowing) Von Furstenberg: Oh, we missed the boat! Should we go inside to keep warm? Man: Hi. I'm Brad Hill. I'm president of the gift shop here at the Statue of Liberty. This is my 37th year here. My grandfather started the business back in 1931 with my grandmother, Evelyn, who the company is named after. (projector clicks) My grandmother fled Poland. It was a Jewish family and they were hiding from the Nazis. And my father was born here on Liberty Island. I worked here as a kid during the summers, so it's just in my blood. My grandmother, Evelyn, worked the cash register until a week before she passed away at 88 years old. The Statue of Liberty replicas are our number-one-selling item. This would be our most popular size (laughs) ...because of price. Von Furstenberg: Can I buy one of those? But I don't have any money. (laughs) Neither do I. Where's Rick? We take his credit card, but you're fine. Okay, Rich, you pay for me. All these statues are actually made only a few miles from us in Brooklyn. -Oh, nice! -Yes. And they're made especially for us. (whirring) Woman: I'm from Mexico. I am from Albania. Man: I came from Romania. One of my dream was to come to United States to see the Statue of Liberty. The same thing, my wife. Everybody in Romania had obsession with the Statue of Liberty. Nobody said, "I wanna go to Chicago, I wanna go to Hollywood." Nobody. Just, "I wanna go to Statue of Liberty." And we start from nothing, and my lady said... Adriana: "What about to make a replica and from the selling, to donate a portion to the Statue of Liberty?" And this the way start. -Yes, among other ideas. -(laughing) I have this idea, too. Is not only idea, but it was a good idea. Ovidui: The people working for us, most of them are immigrants. Adriana: We are happy to provide jobs for those people who came in this country. They have money to support their family, their kids to send to school, and the people are satisfied. Many go through hardship to be able to be free. (chain rattling) My father told me what is the Statue of Liberty, how it was made, who made it, what it represent. That make my mind to work, and I said, I want to go to see it. I tried to leave the country without the permission, and, um... they catch me on the border, put me in jail, spend five year in jail. Because you wanna be free. The communist regime, they don't allow people to go out of the country if they don't have a permission. Working 12 hours a day, I spent five years in jail, and my dream was still there. And here I am. The only company in USA who make the Statue of Liberty. "I wanna be free." That represent for me freedom. Von Furstenberg: People project their dream on Lady Liberty. Everyone imagines their own fantasy and project their own fantasy, and so do artists. Whether she's on a stamp or she's in a painting, she belongs to everyone. -How much you sell this? -This is 500. -I'm gonna buy it. -Oh, wow. Okay, that's nice. Ouch: I just painted it, just now. -You did? Okay. -Ouch: My name is Denis Ouch. I am an artist from Russia. (Ouch speaking English) I did street art in Russia, but it was more like a hobby thing, something that I want to do for fun. And here, I can do it professionally. For you, you're Russian, what does she represent? -Ouch: The Statue of Liberty? -Yes. Well, at first, it was a big symbol of freedom, and then I realized that, you know, freedom is not that free. (police radio chatters) I was selling on the street. Newswoman: Officers will be cracking down on folks who are selling on street corners. Newsman: Artists are pushing back, claiming it's free speech. And I went to court, and I defended myself. I got it dismissed. But then the same police arrested me again. So, after that, I thought I have to make a Statue of Liberty in barbed wires. This one is like a crime scene. Police now doing the crime things. They are supposed to protect people from doing crimes, but it's the opposite. Naked one is she's like a prostitute. So, if you have money, she'll be yours. If you have money, you got the freedom. If you don't have the money, you ain't got it. Von Furstenberg: I actually wanted you to do something. -I made these In Charge bags, -Mm-hmm. and I was wondering whether you... I can ask you to do a Statue of Liberty on them. -Yeah, I can. Okay. -Would you do that? I want one that is happy and in charge. -Ouch: Oh yes, so you want naked one. -I want it in charge. -Okay? Okay. -Ouch: All right. -Let's take a selfie together! -Okay. Ouch: No matter from where you are, Statue of Liberty is almost like a brand. It is like a pop of Coke for our innate desire to be free. -Ouch: Ciao. Thank you very much. - Do svidaniya. Both: Do svidaniya. Von Furstenberg: So, we're going to the public library to look at the diary of Bartholdi. I'm very excited because, you know, I never really thought about her very much. I mean, growing up in Belgium, and my father going to America the first time, I saw the pictures. You know, she was America. And then she became a part of my life. And in a strange way, it's almost like the end of a circle because my mother was a prisoner of war. She went to Auschwitz and she worked in a labor camp. She was a prisoner in the worst way, and she survived. She returned to Belgium, she got married, she wasn't supposed to have a child, but yet I was born. And she always used to say, "God saved me so that "I can give you life. "And by giving you life, "you gave me my life back. "You are my torch of freedom. Mon flambeau de libert." And now, here I am, you know, at the winter of my life, and I've become the godmother of the Statue of Liberty. And so, my mother gave me this torch of freedom, and I'm helping... Lady Liberty to carry her torch of freedom. Oh my God, it's so tiny! This is-- Wait, wait, wait. It's so tiny! People had such a small life then. Well, it's a travel diary, so it had to fit -in the pocket. -Von Furstenberg: I know, but still... "Am rique..." (reading in French) "America 1871." It's pretty amazing to see this tiny little handwriting in this tiny little diary. Oh, the drawings! Oh, the drawings are wonderful. (reading in French) "I'm leaving for Paris. Mommy very courageous. It's hard for me to leave her." "Friday the 13th, beautiful weather, beautiful but fog." Okay. Uh, four in the morning. They enter in the bay... Man (as Bartholdi): At the view of the harbor of New York, the definite plan was first clear to my eyes. I stay on the upper deck in order to study the bay. The little island seems to be the best site. June 30th. Bought some paper, made a sketch of Bedloe Island. The site is superb! The place is decidedly what I think is needed, but how much pain and exasperation must be endured? (whistle toots, chugging) Von Furstenberg: "We are going to "the President Grant, -a very nice welcome." -(bleating) It's a good thing I speak French. "To show the project. He finds it nice..." Man (as Bartholdi): Thinks that securing the site will not be a difficult problem. He offers me a cigar. I stay for a while, talking to him. (chuckles) Von Furstenberg: "He's quite nice, "although he is cold, like all Americans." So funny. Man (as Bartholdi): The second part of my mission remained to be accomplished: to learn if the dream could become a reality. October 7th. Farewell view of the bay and Bedloe's Island. I have the same conviction about it as I had when I first arrived. (Belot speaking French) -(train horn blows) -(crossing bell clanging) (man speaking French) (man 2 speaking French) (clock ticking) (church bell clanging) (man 3 speaking French) (distant bells clanging) (woman speaking French) Oh! (speaking French) (both speaking French) Voil , okay. ("Clair de Lune" playing) ("Clair de Lune" continuing) Man (as Bartholdi): When I was 20 years old, I traveled in Egypt, and this country had a very considerable effect upon my taste for sculpture. (Brutigam speaking French) Von Furstenberg: Oh, this is Bartholdi as an Arab. Man (as Bartholdi): These colossal witnesses, these granite beings in their imperturbable majesty seem still to be listening to antiquity. Their gaze seems to ignore the present and be fixed upon an infinite future. (speaking French) Teacher/Students: "The Statue of Liberty "was originally a Muslim woman." What religion is most common in Egypt? (students murmuring) Teacher: Yeah. Islam. Muslim. Mm-hmm. But imagine the symbolism today of having a Muslim woman or a Muslim statue that can represent the US and welcome people. -How? -Teacher: How. Good question. (Brutigam speaking French) (Belot speaking French) (Brutigam speaking French) (speaking French) The most important room with the very first, um... (Von Furstenberg speaking French) (Brutigam speaking French) Von Furstenberg: Ah! (speaking French) (indistinct chattering) (Von Furstenberg speaking) (applause) Ah! (mayor chuckles) (train horn blowing) Von Furstenberg: The Statue of Liberty has always been a story of the people, and it's always been, strangely enough, a fundraising story. I mean, here we are, Bartholdi, who wants to build the biggest statue in the world, but he has to raise the money. (chattering in French) -Von Furstenberg: This is an incredible museum! -Yves Winkin: Yeah. It's immense! Winkin: We celebrate machines. We have 80,000 objects. The statue, it's an engineering feat, but Bartholdi... was in lack of money. So, he needed to... popularize the very idea of the statue. And we have two pieces which Bartholdi used to seduce potential donors. His producing workshop was open to the public. The public could give some little money, and he had to 3D maquettes built in order to explain to visitors how the statue was produced. I see, so it was a fundraising effort? Yeah. What is amazing about Bartholdi, he was a genius at fundraising. Well, he was a genius at selling himself. -Exactly. Yeah. -Selling and selling. It's incredible. And so, everything is in scale? Winkin: In scale, yeah. (camera clicks) Winkin: Also, he had like a diorama. You see there as if you were in the harbor of New York. You are aboard a ship, and you get the view you will get approaching the statue. This is incredible. -(ship horn bellowing) -(seagulls screeching) (Belot speaking French) Belot: He would be a PR person, you know, hosting VIPs. They sold small model statues that were done in the workshop where the statue was being built. (Belot speaking French) Winkin: So bold and so daring. And ambitious! Ambitious. Stanislas: By 1880, the Franco-American Union had raised 400,000 francs, which was a huge amount of money at that time. The truth is that they raised the money from the people. And then they started to build it. But he doesn't even know how the statue will hold. It's gonna be so big. How is it gonna hold against the wind? And that's when they met Gustave Eiffel. Woman: Bartholdi goes to Eiffel, who is, at the time, famous for creating these amazing bridges in various parts of the world, and he said would you be willing to create the skeleton to the statue? And Eiffel said he'd take it on, but he was not very interested in having his beautiful armature disguised by this, what he considered, old-fashioned cladding. -Man: Two, three! -Women: Woo! I mean, it must be a very nice thing to be a descendant of Gustave Eiffel. Yes. For him, the big thing was the family. It was very important for him, and it's why I come with this book, written by Eiffel three months before he died. Von Furstenberg: Oh, for his family! (gasps) (Virginie speaking French) (laughs) -(camera clicks) -Woman: Nice. Virginie: You know, you can see the very short paragraph on the Statue of Liberty. Man (Gustave Eiffel): The studies that I had done on the resistance of the wind made my be chosen to do the armature of the Statue of Liberty of Bartholdi. In spite of the economical restrictions, it managed to resist many, many tempests and hurricanes. -Von Furstenberg: So, he defied the wind. -Exactly. So, the idea of doing the armature, the skeleton, of the Statue of Liberty was probably not... -his biggest pride. -Virginie: Yes, but-- (woman speaks English) Von Furstenberg: I mean, it only got a little paragraph in his book. (laughter) Woman: I think the Statue of Liberty inspired Gustave Eiffel for the Eiffel Tower. Von Furstenberg: It's fascinating. -Wow. -Man (as Bartholdi): This truss work serves as a support for the copper form of the statue. The copper plates kept in shape by iron bands are supported by iron braces, which are cramped onto the central core. Von Furstenberg: Every piece, imagine, every piece of the armature weigh 20 pounds. There are about 3,000 of them. Each piece of armature was handmade in order to fit that beautiful, long dress. You see the fabric, and they follow the movement of the draping of the dress. (camera clicks) Man (as Bartholdi): The statue is constructed of copper sheets two and a half millimeters in thickness. The whole work was done by the celebrated house of Gaget, Gauthier, and Company of Paris. Stanislas: When it was built around 1884, Parisians could see the statue coming out of the roof of Paris. Agathe: You would see the evolution of just the buildings and then the statue being, you know, on top of the building and being very big, and it was like a real person being kind of born. It was kind of an entertainment. Like, it's a sunny day, you're with your family, and you say, "Well, va voir la libert." "We're going to see Liberty." Man (as Bartholdi): The work on the statue was constantly visited by the public, who showed their lively interest in it. It is estimated that about 300,000 persons visited the workshop. I write the stories for a very famous European character called Lucky Luke. The new one I'm writing is a story of the Statue of Liberty. These are the pages which are done already. So, the title is "A Cowboy in Paris," and we have this, our hero, and you can see the statue being built in the Atelier Gaget . In America, they always destroy it, you know? In catastrophe movies, they like to destroy things. They don't really like to emphasize the building of things. So this is quite sad because... It's very heroical, there are so many drama in it, and actually, there is some sex and passion as well. ("Clair de lune" playing) There's a big discussion about who is represented by the face of the statue, and there are so many versions. Some people say she's Arabic. Some people say she was Bartholdi's mother. Some people said, oh, it was Bartholdi's brother. Jul: But many people say no, it was the model Celine. Atelier Gaget Gauthier was not in the center of Paris. The actual street where the atelier was located was a street with many prostitutes. It was a kind of... posh red light district. So, Celine, she was just posing, you know, for the sculptors and painters by the time, and she was a prostitute as well. So, in between the mother or the prostitute, you know, you never know who Liberty would be. Man (as Bartholdi): The people continue to pour out and visit it, until January 1, 1885. At that time, the work of taking it down was begun. At the present hour, the whole work is packed up in cases, which in a few days, are to be put on board the state vessel Isere. Agathe: When it went to America in different pieces, then it just disappeared from Paris. (thunder cracking) (wind howling) People were really like sad because in the Atlantic, Liberty got lost in a storm for ten days. We heard no news. And it was like Liberty was gone. (wind howling) Vo: I wanted to do something familiar, a little bit unfamiliar. Something everybody had an image of. My father decided to escape Vietnam in '79. The refugees, known as the boat people. In our case, it was a Danish tanker that decided to take us up, and we ended up in Denmark. It was exhibited in Chicago, China, Mexico, Denmark, London. When I stumbled into the information that you work with copper that's two millimeters thick, like the size of two pennies, and I thought... (Vo speaking) David Copperfield: The Statue of Liberty is an object that's actually hollow. But on the outside, it's supposed to look very heavy and strong. That in itself is an illusion. It is magic. It is science and art making spectacle. I had this idea of making the Statue of Liberty disappear. Male Announcer: This is the Statue of Liberty. Tonight, the illusion of the century. (fanfare playing) I think people thought I was crazy. (radio beeping) The audience on Liberty Island, and myself, are seated here. The curtain will be raised between the statue and the audience. Getting to do it was almost impossible. I got a no. Basically, no, from the Park Service. So, I was friendly with the Reagan family, and I said that I really wanna share how important freedom is. I can do this as a... a kind of a goofy thing. I'm gonna do this as a very serious thing to point out what we take for granted. And he said yes. You know, "I'll help you with this thing." -(crowd cheering) -Female Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. David Copperfield. My mother was the first one to tell me about the Statue of Liberty. She saw it first from the deck of a ship that brought her to America. She was an immigrant. She impressed upon me how precious our liberty is and how easily it can be lost. And then one day, it occurred to me that I could show with magic how we take our freedom for granted. Sometimes, we don't realize how important something is until it's gone. (crowd gasping, applauding) As a magician, I make people dream. Statue, same thing: It makes people dream. It makes people understand that they should keep moving forward because who knows what the future might bring. (seagulls screeching) Doug Phelps: All the tradesmen and us, we feel like we're the keeper of the Lady. We're the ones out here that are improving her and making sure she's here for many generations to come, and it's an honor to have that job. Out here, we have a lot of migrating birds, so it's noticed on the window. It looks like small lines going down. That's for bird protection. It's very specialized glass. It was made in Portugal. The torch will sit over here, and that's where we're leaving these windows out to bring the original torch into the space. My mother's family came from Germany and immigrated into the country in the late 1800s. But we all have an immigration story. Everybody here has an immigration story. -Jimmy! -How are you? -How you doing? -All right. It's a little cool out there now. This is the first piece of America that my grandparents saw. There's like five generations of masons in my family, going back to Italy and coming to here. My father's mom came here when she was just a baby, so this was the first thing they saw when they came in. We built the pier out here in order to get the barges in. Von Furstenberg: It's one thing to build a museum, but to build a museum there is so complicated that, in a weird way, it was like rebuilding the statue all over again, and you understand the difficulty of doing that on that tiny, tiny, tiny little island. -Jimmy: We had 19 concrete trucks on one barge. -Man: And a pump. Jimmy: We poured almost 400 yards that day-- -Man: Right. -Jimmy: Which is 40 concrete trucks. Building the building, we could do that in our sleep. Man: Yeah. There's a lot of history on that girl, and, uh... I remember standing in her torch. She's standing tall. She's been out there in 150-mile-an-hour winds. She don't care. I mean, she's a tough lady. -Man: Yeah, has strong feeling about it. -Jimmy: And we love her. Stanislas: When the statue arrived in America, there wasn't enough money raised on the American side. So... It was sitting there, just waiting for a place to stand. (wood creaking) (Belot speaking French) (laughs) Von Furstenberg: So much dream... has gone into that statue, and it's been like that. You know, people had the dream and they go for the dream, -and then the reality follows, right? -Stanislas: Yeah. The city of New York was going to lose the statue. And then Pulitzer raised the money for the pedestal. Stanislas: On the American side, it's an immigrant to the United States. He was from central Europe, but he did it because the statue -had this symbol for him. -Von Furstenberg: Of course. He wrote this article and said, "People of America..." Man (as Pulitzer): We must raise the money. The World is the people's paper, and now, it appeals to the people to come and raise the money. It is not a gift from the millionaires of France to the millionaires of America, but a gift of the whole people of France to the whole people of America. Stanislas: People would send small amounts of money and it was crowdfunding of the time. My name is Slava Rubin, and we're at Indiegogo. We're the first crowdfunding company. I'm a big fan of the Statue of Liberty. I was actually born in Belarus, so I myself am an immigrant. When we came out with Indiegogo, it was a fairly foreign concept to most-- giving money for a bigger idea to happen. So, I would lean on the Statue of Liberty's story to say hey, okay, let me explain it like this. A hundred and thirty years ago, Joseph Pulitzer had to use his technology, which was the newspaper, and use his network. And if it wasn't for the crowd actually doing their part with Joseph Pulitzer through the newspaper, there's a good chance the Statue of Liberty wouldn't be in America or in New York, actually. (Belot speaking French) Mitchell: On the day that the statue was inaugurated, Bartholdi goes out one last time on the boat at night to see his statue. And as he's getting back, he said, "She's going away from me. She's going away from me!" At this moment, it is becoming everyone else's. (crowd cheering) Newsman: Today, her torch holds out its beacon of welcome and hope to all who seek shelter in America. Newsman 2: Homecoming doughboys waved at the Statue of Liberty, -she waved back. -(crowd cheering) Roosevelt: ...rededication of the liberty and the peace which this statue symbolizes. Newsman: Home sweet home to 1,000 Americans once again in the land of liberty. John F. Kennedy: Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. Newsman: Antiwar demonstrators protest the Vietnam war. Neil Armstrong: That's one small step for a man... giant leap for mankind. Newswoman: John Lennon got his green card. Lennon: Right on, brother. (crowd cheering) Louise Fletcher (as Statue of Liberty): I have welcomed people from all nations and I gave them a dream that shaped the courage and destiny of three generations of Americans. But now, I need your help. Time and the elements are destroying me. America, if you still believe in me, save me, or soon, I will become a symbol of shame and decay. Man: Send your contribution to Keep The Torch Lit. Newsman: The Statue of Liberty is undergoing a complete restoration that could be ready by July 4th, her 100th birthday celebration. Tony Soraci: That statue took a beating. All those years, see the little rust here and here? You can see the damage on it. It was leaking, the glass was shot. It was just a mess. If you were in the middle of salt water for a hundred years, you'd need some work, too, you know what I'm saying? And they wanted to take the old torch off and put a new torch on. That's what we did. Well, they needed somebody who wasn't afraid of heights, and I'd been in the construction business all my life. That was a lot of climbing. A long climb, especially in the morning. Around 5:30 in the morning, six o'clock when you're half asleep, you didn't get your cup of coffee. You're looking up saying, "Oh God." You really couldn't wear a harness. I was just sitting on the edge, looking down at the people there. I said, "Look how small those people look down there. It's like little ants." Newsman: There are two teams working on the restoration: the American craftsmen and the French artisans. The French responsibility is rebuilding the torch and flame. We are amazed of... of what they have done one century ago. I was 31 years old back then. We came to New York foolishly, like a platoon of Marines. Ten passionate metalworkers, six days a week, working like monks. The original Bartholdi flame was solid. It was hollow, but solid. In 1918, it has been changed by cutting into it to create a lantern. But all of that leaked extraordinarily. These are the... drawings of what was left of the original flame shapes. So, we had to do an exact replica using the same techniques, the same volume, the same shapes, same details. The other side of the shop was occupied by the American workers. They were cordial, but at the same time, a little bit sour, you know? Not to have been awarded the job. Ronald Reagan: My fellow Americans, the ironworkers from New York and New Jersey were at first puzzled and a bit put off to see foreign workers arrive. Jean Wiart, the leader of the French workers said his countrymen understood. After all, he asked, how would Frenchmen feel if Americans showed up to help restore the Eiffel Tower? Soraci: Our local was the first local to get jurisdiction of one of the biggest projects in history, right? And Carmine Sedita is the one who ran the local. Big old Sicilian man. Tall guy, goatee. He'd just look down at you, he'd scare you. You know, you listened to him. Everybody says, if it wasn't for those Mafia guys, she wouldn't be renovated. (laughs) Before I went up there, he told me keep a low profile. You know, keep everything quiet. Keep a nice, low profile. Well, I tried. It didn't work out too well. I didn't know that picture was gonna happen. Reagan: Many of us have seen the picture of another worker here, Tony Soraci, the grandson of immigrant Italians said, it was something he was proud to do. "Something to tell my grandchildren." Soraci: I got a pullout page in National Geographics, look out. You had a couple photographers up there. So I leaned over, gave the Statue of Liberty a kiss, he snapped a picture. Next thing I know, it was in National Geographics Today, the president's thanking me on national TV. I was like, whoa, my God, how'd this happen? Whoa, am I in trouble. (laughs) Reagan: As they came to know each other, the Americans were reminded that Miss Liberty, like the many millions she's welcomed to these shores, is of foreign birth. Soraci: My ancestors when they first came in, they seen the Statue of Liberty. And there's no way in a million years they could have had an idea that their great grandson would be working on it, you know? I'm sure they're up there looking down at me now, saying, "Good job. Good job. You did good." -(fireworks whistling) -Reagan: That's my gal. The truth is, she's everybody's gal. Man: I have a motion on the floor to sing happy birthday to Lady Liberty. -What's her age? -131 years old. -She just had a face-lift. -Man: Not a day over 30. Woman: As soon as I walked into the room of liberty collectors, it was like, my people! Hi, I'm James, and I'm a liberty collector. I feel like we're at a different kind of meeting with those words. -Man: Welcome, James. -Yeah, I'm kind of addicted. This piece is over 131 years old itself. This is the 12-inch American Committee model to raise funds in order to erect her. Very, very detailed piece, and you can see her toes. This is a 1968 Dare-devil that features a photograph of the Statue of Liberty. She is a super heroine in her own right. I have a guest room that is all Statue of Liberty. Floor-to-ceiling art, bobbleheads, and the kitchier the better. Woman: I really like the negative ones as well because you can't censor what's going on, so any use of her image, to me, brings awareness to anything that's going on in the world. Well, good afternoon. Happy birthday. Glad to be part of the party today. The statue that I built for the New York, New York, hotel is a little over a hundred feet tall, so it's two-thirds the size of the statue in New York City. And to me, it's more than just a facade in front of a hotel. To me, it really took on a personality throughout the process. My mother-in-law passed away during the completion of the statue, and so the plaque dedicates the entire statue to her and that's what I said on there. -That this one's for you, Mom. -Man: Thank you. (audience applauds) I'm Amanda Liberty. I'm sorry, it makes me choke up. I'm just so happy to be here. Woman: You actually changed your name, right? Amanda: I did! I changed my name to Liberty. I have my name, you know, so that she's always with me. She's always a part of me. She's part of who I am. You know, we don't remember what it used to be. Liberty is fine. -Liberty is your name. -(Amanda chuckles) -It was Whittaker before. Yeah. -(audience laughs) Amanda: Some people will go like, oh, you're in the wrong country or whatever, and I'm just saying that liberty is everywhere. She's all around the world. She's an immigrant to the United States anyway. Hal Clancy: About 4.5 million a year come out to visit the Statue of Liberty, and it's almost like they're on a pilgrimage. This ferry is the Miss Liberty. She probably has carried more passengers than any other ferry in the world. My dad was her first captain. He had me steering the boat when I was tall enough to stand on a chair and see out the window. Clancy (over PA): Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard Miss Liberty. I made the recordings, oh, about 20 years ago, and it's still my voice today. My grandfather was superintendent of the park. I remember spending a lot of time at my grandparents' house on Liberty Island. I used to ride my bike around at night, climb the statue at night. I even once changed the light bulb in the original torch. The largest light bulb I had ever seen. (over PA): All disembarking passengers, would you move to the exit gangway at the forward end... Most don't know people actually used to live here on Liberty Island. A large house for the superintendent, three smaller units and two duplexes. Some were park rangers, families, it was quite a community on the back of Liberty Island. Jay Lippert: I rolled out of the house and I was at work. But after the public left, and it was all quiet, you know, the girls would bring their baby strollers and their dolls, we'd bring balls. It was like a big backyard. The island was the kids' playground, and they would bike around the flagpole, and just have themselves a grand old time. Woman: Where the museum is going now, half of it was a maintenance building and half of it was our house. And then, your house was-- -Woman: Over there. I was going to school. -Going to school? -That's first day of school. -Woman: Oh, first day of school! -Teddy bear picnic. -Teddy bear picnic. Yeah, birthday party. Woman: Both of our birthdays 9/11, yeah. So, we could share birthdays. Look, I'm pushing you! I'm pushing you away. And I used to tell people to get off my island. Yeah, she would do that. I'd say Marcy, you can't say that. Jay: I don't even think we had a key to the front door at the statue. Dawn: We'd go walk in there, and, you know, just hang out. And there's Charlie, the bomb-sniffing dog! -We used to hide gunpowder for her to find. -That's right. Jay: She was a golden retriever and explosives detection dog. The statue got struck by lightning a lot. (thunder cracks) Yes, it does tend-- and it's pretty loud. (thunder rumbling) You know, that was kinda funny. You know, she's a bomb dog, but any loud noises like thunder terrified her. Jay: The last time I was here was September 11, 2001. We were here to make sure nobody hurt the Statue of Liberty. And, uh... I don't think anybody that was on those boat crews was ready for what we saw. 'Cause I know I wasn't. (rumbling) Woman: Holy shi-- God! Jay: It just, uh, it just wasn't... anything you could possibly prepare for. (radio chattering) All the flags were at half-staff... except Liberty Island. And, uh... Frank put the garrison flag up that day. And left it up. Got a call from the director of the park service and said, you need to lower that flag to half-staff. And Frank said, "If you wanna lower that flag to half-staff, "you get your ass up here and do it yourself 'cause I ain't fucking doing it." Dawn: I went back and went through all our pictures. The Twin Towers is in every picture, so that kinda brings back a time, you know, it was a carefree time. So, it definitely, it has an effect. You know, death definitely has an effect. Wow. Nice. David Luchsinger: My wife and I used to live here post-9/11, so, um... it was quite a different experience than the folks that lived here years ago in a community. For us, it was all about security. It was all about safety, and it was because of post-9/11. When I first got here, 86% of people coming to the Statue of Liberty just got to walk around outside. My idea was let's have a museum on the backside of the island, and Hurricane Sandy sort of sealed the deal. Newsman: Sandy is coming. The question is how will New York City handle it? Luchsinger: Seeing Hurricane Sandy coming up, we kinda knew pretty well then we were gonna get flooded pretty bad. Newsman: 90-mile-per-hour winds, driving rain, record-breaking high tides. Luchsinger: We were very worried. I mean, she's only two pennies thick, but she's built to move in the wind. (wind and water rumbling) (distant ship horn bellows) Coming back to the island was... a surreal experience. As we were coming across and could see all the devastation, we still saw the Statue of Liberty standing there, proud and defiant as ever. As we came around the backside of the island, we could see all the houses. That little house on the corner, that's mine. Newsman: How high was the water? -It was probably about here. -(cameras clicking) It was catastrophic. We lost just about everything. This was my backyard. This was my backyard. (chuckles) Oh, this is unbelievable. (sighs) This is what I envisioned. I can't believe this room. I really cannot believe this room. Little emotional. (laughs) (sniffling) (sigh) (sighs) People from all over the world are coming here and they wanna see her. She means liberty to everybody. (echoing): Everybody. Everybody. (whirring) (speaking Chinese) (woman speaking Chinese) (speaking Chinese) Protesters (chanting): No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here. The Statue of Liberty says "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." It doesn't say anything about speaking English. I don't want to get off into a whole thing about history here, but the poem that you're referring to was added later. It's not actually part of the original Statue of Liberty. -The Statue of Liberty-- -Jim, let me ask you a question-- -...of hope to the world-- -Jim, I'm saying that-- -I'm saying the notion-- -(Jim speaking indistinctly) Let's talk about this. Mitchell: The Emma Lazarus poem was actually written to help create the Statue of Liberty because they needed money to help create the pedestal, and so, she was asked to contribute a poem to a booklet that would be sold to raise money, and she wrote this poem that was so beautiful, in fact, it ran in the newspapers and was very, very popular. Protesters (chanting): No hate, no fear, refugees... Woman (as Emma Lazarus): Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land... Here at our sea-washed sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch... And her name, Mother of Exiles. Newsman: The chaos, confusion, and anger growing in the wake of the White House immigration ban... Newswoman: In Boston, thousands packing the streets... (protesters chanting) Officers in riot gear in Portland. In Seattle, police pepper spraying an angry crowd. Man: Now, the world is seeing the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Newswoman: Travelers not allowed to board flights bound for the US. Woman (as Emma Lazarus): From her beacon-hand Glows worldwide welcome... Newsman: Syrian refugees are on the march. Man: You know, I can post to Facebook, but what's something else that I can do? Newswoman: This is now a massive exodus of around 7,000 people. Newswoman 2: Migrants from Central America heading toward the US with hopes of seeking asylum. Woman (as Emma Lazarus): Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free... The first time that I went to the Statue of Liberty to sort of scout it out, to check out what security looked like, and how big the railing is and stuff like that, uh, I got emotional because my grandparents met in a refugee camp during World War II, and my mother was an immigrant and came through New York on boats, and the idea that this was... this was the same experience they had going past this island was... um, you know... touching. I definitely lost sleep over what would ha-- you know, all the ways that it could go wrong. There's only one way for it to go right, but a million things that can go wrong. On the morning of, it was a lot like this. Newsman: Cooler sun today, chance for a shower after midnight. Sun sets at 5:38 with more clouds coming in... There's only one way in and one way out, which is a ferry. Man (over PA): Security is also a concern for all. Be sure to take all of your belongings with you when you disembark. Man: So, we-- Hold on a second. I'm thinking about how much I wanna get into here. Uh, yeah, we... you go through metal detectors twice. Once on the Manhattan side in order to get on the ferry that takes you to the island, and once... in order to go before you go up, you have to leave your bag... down at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Uh... I don't wanna-- I can't agree or disagree with exactly how we got it in. Basically, the only things that you can get in are things that are on your body, I'll say it that way. We... held the banner up, and then... dropped it over the side of the ledge, and tied it around back. One of the fears we had was that, you know, the tree would fall and it wouldn't make a sound. Woman 1: Is this act covered under free speech? Man: There are other places for these opinions to be expressed. Woman 2: National Park Service is now trying to figure out who's responsible. Von Furstenberg: Lady Liberty is like a green seal of approval for freedom. So, obviously, as a symbol for freedom, she's been used all the time for protest. (protesters chanting) Even the day she is revealed, the same day, there's the first protest. A group of women rented a boat and circled the island, yelling out protest speeches. Here, we have this massive statue of a woman holding up a torch, representing liberty, and yet, women in the United States didn't even have the liberty to vote. Von Furstenberg: Women were not allowed. I mean, how crazy is that? (indistinct radio chatter) Man (over radio): Unauthorized person climbing the Statue of Liberty at this time. Newsman: Breaking news just in. Liberty Island in New York City is being evacuated. Ferry boats rushing tourists to safety on this busy Fourth of July holiday. An tense standoff after a woman climbed the iconic landmark, protest of immigration policy. Okoumou: America is a place immigrants were welcome to come to. How do we justify putting them in cages? It is the same way that was used to justify slavery. Newsman: Officers climbing to get close to her, but the woman is staying out of reach. Okoumou: I found refuge under the statue's sandals. She has a sandal and she's got a chain on her that she broke free. Newsman: The protester seems to be resting there in the base, at the very foot of the statue. Okoumou: Being underneath her robe and praying that she was listening to my cries soothed me enough that I knew everything would be just fine. Woman (as Emma Lazarus): Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. (echoing): To breathe free. To breathe free. To breathe free... (wind whistling) I lift my lamp... Beside the golden door... Von Furstenberg: When you don't think about it, you just think it's a big statue, welcoming statue in New York and a tourist destination. She's so present now in my life. She has become part of my family, or I have become part of her family. And this is the torch. What is the torch is a symbol of? -Freedom? -Yes! Freedom... The torch is really the essence... of what the statue is about. Freedom, hope, new horizon, everything is possible. We are all equal. Anyone who is involved in Lady Liberty passes it on to the next generation, and it becomes a chain of love. To liberty! -Man: Beautiful thing. -Von Furstenberg: It's her who took over. She is more powerful and she is more determined than any of people who made it happen. Man (as Bartholdi): I dreamed of this. I said to myself, what a great thing it would be for this statue to be placed in the midst of such a scene of life and liberty. My dream has been realized. I can only say that I am enchanted. Goodbye, my daughter, Liberty. I am glad you are home at last. (camera clicks) All right, let's go. Right here, right now Right here, right now Right here, right now Right here, right now Right here, right now Right here, here, here... (echoing continuing) |
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