Statue of Liberty Inspiring Women of Today’s Generation

The year was 1976 and as Halloween approached I decided to dress up as the Statue of Liberty. I was growing up in Rome, New York, the home of Fort Stanwix which was built in 1776. People from multiple states helped to rebuild and defend the fort during the American Revolution because it served as both a military post and place where people from 13 states forged a national identity. Perhaps ‘freedom’ was in my spirit growing up in a house that dated back to 1762 when our city was vital in our country’s fight for independence.

It wasn’t until 1977 that I visited New York City for the first time seeing Lady Freedom for the first time so my inspiration for the costume must have come from my hometown. As the tourist boat approached the statue one summer day, I remember being afraid of its size hardly being able to look at it. Now forty years later as I tour New York City’s harbor with my two sons who live in Manhattan, I still have a hard time glancing at her since that childhood fear even though I love what she represents.

Tuesday is the day I blog about women’s equality. When I was contemplating subjects, the Statue of Liberty came to mind. I’m not sure why on this cold and snowy day but she did. Then I remembered my tribute to her on Halloween as a sixth grade girl living in an old colonial town. If you know me, you know I love women and what women have done and continue to do for our country. I looked up some facts about this iconic female figure to remind you to fight every day for women’s equality.

Here are just a few things you might not know about Lady Freedom:

* She arrived from France 130 years ago after a vision of her came to her sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi.
* She is modeled after the Roman goddess of Freedom Libertas (a shout-out to my Italian grandfather’s hometown of Rome, Italy and my hometown of Rome, New York).
* Her torch symbolizes enlightment with its official name being “Liberty Enlightening the World.”
* She faces southeast which is how she became a welcoming symbol for ships like the one my Italian grandfather traveled on with his family in early 1900.
*She is barely struck by lightning although she is one of the tallest structures in New York City.