On July 4, 1884 Frederic Auguste Bartholdi’s statue, “Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World” was presented to the people of the United States from the “people of the Republic of France . . . attesting to their abiding friendship.”
Two years later on October 28, 1886 the statue was finally placed on its pedestal on Bedloe’s Island in New York harbor. President Grover Cleveland attended the opening ceremony and accepted the statue on behalf of the American people.