Who designed the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor?

Frédéric Bartholdi designed the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. The French sculptor created the monument as a gift from the people of France to the United States.

Bartholdi developed the statue’s monumental figure, while Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel and his engineering team designed its iron framework. This division of responsibilities explains a common mix-up: Eiffel helped engineer the structure but did not create the statue’s sculpture. The statue represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, holding a torch and a tablet inscribed with July 4, 1776, in Roman numerals.

The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886, in a ceremony attended by President Grover Cleveland. It stands on Liberty Island, although the site was historically known as Bedloe’s Island. Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus,” added to the pedestal in 1903, later became closely associated with the monument’s message of welcome.