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Bartholdi Day  Oct 28 1886 and the Statue of Liberty New York

Frederic Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) was the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty.  It was unveiled and dedicated by Grover Cleveland on Oct 28 in a ceremony on Bedloe's Island. 

Centennial Exhibition Philadelphia 1876      Madison Square Park   The arm had been exhibited in Philadelphia for the Centennial Exposition and in Manhattan 1876-1882. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty

39 West 12th Street
New York N Y
Octr 28th/86
Bartholdi day

My dear Son

John [Dolman] is here.  Came this AM, took advantage of the cheap excursion tickets today - takes the 12 train tonight to return.  We have had a wretched day for the celebration, a drizzly rain all day.  I guess the fireworks will be postponed.  Lottie [Powell] was here this afternoon.  She was on the grandstand this morning with the President [Grover Cleveland] of the US, and all his cabinet and the foreign officials.  She had a grand view of the whole affair.

Hattie called on Alice [Zavistowski Webb] on Tuesday. Alice was glad to get back to America.  Had a rough passage coming back.  Aunty is weather bound in Linden so poor Uncle is alone in his lovely home. 

I got my salary yesterday, but only a few of us did.  I shall not send you any tonight, for I have to get shoes, stockings, flowers, bonnet, gloves &c &c to Jim the Penman and when I get through, I will see how much I have left to send you. 

Your pictures are excellent -- couldn't be better.  We want some more.  Love and Kisses from your loving Mother

The statue was presented by France, in commemoration of 100 years of American independence.  However only one arm was available in 1876.  The hand and torch of the Statue of Liberty had been displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and then shipped to Madison Square New York for display.  Fundraising for the platform took some years to complete, finally being organized by Joseph Pulitzer.  EJ Phillips seems likely to have seen the arm in Philadelphia during the Centennial -- and she almost certainly saw it in Madison Square Park since she was working at the Madison Square Theatre at the time.

After the Statue was presented to Levi P Morton, the U.S. minister to France, on July 4, 1884 in Paris, it was disassembled and shipped to the United States aboard the French Navy ship, Isère. The Statue arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885, and was met with great fanfare. Unfortunately, the pedestal for the Statue was not yet complete and the entire structure was not reassembled on Bedloe's Island until 1886. Once the pedestal was completed in 1886, the Statue was reassembled with surprising speed by a fearless construction crew - many of whom were new immigrants. The first piece of the Statue to be reconstructed was Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel's iron framework. The rest of the Statue's elements followed without the use of scaffolding - all construction materials were hoisted up by steam driven cranes and derricks. … The last section to be completed was the Statue of Liberty's face which remained veiled until the Statue's dedication. Although Fort Wood remained on Bedloe's Island, it was not an obstacle in the design, construction, or reassembly of the Statue of Liberty. Instead, the star-shaped structure became a part of the Statue's base - the pedestal sits within its walls. On October 28, 1886, the statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World" was officially unveiled. The day's wet and foggy weather did not stop some one million New Yorkers from turning out to cheer for The Statue of Liberty. Parades on land and sea honored the Statue while flags and music filled the air and the official dedication took place beneath the colossus "glistening with rain." When it was time for Bartholdi to release the tricolor French flag that veiled Liberty's face, a roar of guns, whistles, and applause sounded. National Park Service, Statue of Liberty https://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/places_creating_statue.htm

The Dolmans were friends of EJP's long before Hattie married John, and seem to have known John Nickinson as well..  John Dolman Sr. (1824/30?-1895) was Hattie's father- in- law.  He made his professional debut at Mitchell's Olympic Theatre, New York in 1849 and retired from the stage at the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia in 1860, to become a lawyer.

Last revised December 26, 2019

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