Masonry Magazine June 1985 Page. 18
We Supported Her Then...
We Support Her Now!
MASONRY INSTITUTE SUPPORTS STATUE OF LIBERTY
AND ELLIS ISLAND DRIVE
The Masonry Institute of New York City and Long Island announces its financial and promotional support of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation Inc., which is currently engaged in seeking to raise $230 million to restore both landmark structures.
The Institute, directed by trustees of labor and management representing the unionized masonry construction industry of New York City and Long Island, gives its whole-hearted support to The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Centennial Commission, chaired by Lee Iacocca. In addition to a monetary contribution, the Institute is encouraging all members of the Mason Contractors Association of America to give their financial support as well.
The structural masonry pedestal for the Statue was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the engineer who later designed the Eiffel Tower. The Statue itself was designed by Fredric Auguste Bartholdi, a French sculptor. For this undertaking the French raised $400,000. After its completion it was presented to the United States, in Paris in 1884, as a gift of the French people. The Statue was then dismantled and shipped to America. Americans, meanwhile, raised an additional $270,000 to build the masonry base for the Statue. Finally, on October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue at a gala celebration in New York Harbor.
Echoing the, "We Supported Her Then; We Support Her Now" theme, the Masonry Institute urges all those involved in the masonry construction industry to join the Institute in supporting this monument dedicated to liberty by making their own financial contributions. These should be sent to: Mr. Lee Iacocca, Chairman, Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Centennial Commission, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation Inc., P.O. Box Liberty, New York, New York 10117.