Why was the original Goddess of Liberty removed from the top of the Capitol?

Designed by Elijah E. Myers, the architect of the State Capitol Building, and hoisted to the top of the dome in 1888, the Goddess of Liberty as she was known was said to represent truth and justice. But by 1985 it had become clear the statue had badly deteriorated after nearly 100 years of exposure to the elements.



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The Statue of Freedom on the National Capitol, the Statue of Liberty and the Pallas Athena from ancient Greece all likely served as inspiration for Myer's design. The Goddess of Liberty just before crews hoisted her to the top of the Capitol, February 1888.

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Some say the current white statue was substituted for the original when American politicians objected to the portrayal of Liberty as a black woman. Some have even argued that the original black statue still exists, either in France or hidden somewhere in the catacombs of New York.

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The statue thus embodies the three principal figures produced by the new nation—the African American, the American Indian, and the white woman; these Others coalesced in Crawford's statue and in Davis's own vision of white superiority that he insisted be represented in the U.S. Capitol dome statue, resulting in a ...

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Why does the Statue of Freedom face east, away from the National Mall? The Capitol's East Front was planned, and still serves, as its principal entrance (being the only front on level ground), and the statue faces those who arrive from this direction.

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Secretary of War Davis considered the liberty cap that Crawford included in his proposal for the dome statue as problematic, however, arguing that the cap's “history renders it inappropriate to a people who were born free and would not be enslaved.” He recommended that “armed Liberty” instead “wear a helmet,” given “ ...

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But did you know she wasn't always that color? When France gifted Lady Liberty to the U.S., she was a 305-foot statue with reddish-brown copper skin. Her color change is thanks to about 30 years' worth of chemistry in the air of New York City harbor.

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Egypt rejected the Statue of Liberty because according to the Khedive it was too costly. The original plan was to present the colossal neoclassical sculpture to Egypt to stand at the entryway to the Suez Canal as a beacon of light to Asia.

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The Statue of Liberty is an iconic blue-green symbol of freedom. But did you know she wasn't always that color? When France gifted Lady Liberty to the U.S., she was a 305-foot statue with reddish-brown copper skin. Her color change is thanks to about 30 years' worth of chemistry in the air of New York City harbor.

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