30 years ago — August 18-25, 1986
The Statue of Liberty became a symbol of hope fulfilled to millions of the world’s tired, poor and homeless. Her hundredth birthday is over and liberty will have a more difficult time in the future. “Our borders and harbors are not as open, and the borders of some places are closed tight, watched and wired. … When we see the beautiful Lady in Green, our eyes … focus on the torch, lifted high as a beacon, as an invitation to a better day. … But we are no longer saying to the world, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, the wretched refuse, the homeless and the tempest-tossed.’” The focus for the next 100 years should be on her crown with the seven spikes representing the seven seas and seven continents reminding us “that liberty is not ours to keep or to deny others. It is a quest that needs to take root in other places.”
From the article “The Hope is in the Crown” by Alfred T. Davies
