Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty. . , This replica of the Statue of Liberty was obtained in about 1950 to help celebrate Boy Scouting, which was established in Great Britain in 1908. The Boy Scouts of America soon followed. J.P. Whitaker, then scout commissioner of the Kansas City Area Council, originated the Statue of Liberty replica program to celebrate scouting's 40th anniversary. Lewiston purchased one of the more than 200 Liberty replicas. , In 1984, Bryan McConnell, with the LDS Troop 366 of Lewiston, restored the local replica and placed it in this area of Symmes Park. , The full name is the Statue of Liberty-Liberty Enlightening the World. It was the idea of Edouard Rene de Laboulaye, president of the French Anti-Slavery Society. He inspired his friend, sculptor Frederic Bartholdi, to design the copper statue. Constructed by Gustave Eiffel, it was dedicated on that is now Liberty Island in New York harbor on October, 28, 1886. , The statue was a gift to the United States from the people of France. Since 1886, it has welcomed immigrants to this country. The statue has been renovated three times, in 1938, 1984-86, and 2011-2012. Since 1933. It had been maintained by the National Park Service. , Although the people of France paid for the statue, Americans had to pay for the base on which it stands. To help raise funds, Emma Lazarus wrote a poem which is graven on a tablet within the pedestal on which the statue stands. , After McConnell restored the replica in 1984, he added a plaque at the site that gives the best known line from Emma Lazarus's famous poem: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."