Editing Statue of Liberty (section)

===Lighthouse Board and War Department (1886–1933) ===
[[File:Statue of Liberty 1917 poster.jpg|thumb|Government poster using the Statue of Liberty to promote the sale of [[Liberty Bond]]s]]

When the torch was illuminated on the evening of the statue's dedication, it produced only a faint gleam, barely visible from Manhattan. The ''World'' characterized it as "more like a glowworm than a beacon."{{sfn|Harris|1985|pp=133–134}} Bartholdi suggested gilding the statue to increase its ability to reflect light, but this proved too expensive. The [[United States Lighthouse Board]] took over the Statue of Liberty in 1887 and pledged to install equipment to enhance the torch's effect; in spite of its efforts, the statue remained virtually invisible at night. When Bartholdi returned to the United States in 1893, he made additional suggestions, all of which proved ineffective. He did successfully lobby for improved lighting within the statue, allowing visitors to better appreciate Eiffel's design.{{sfn|Harris|1985|pp=133–134}} In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt, once a member of the New York committee, ordered the statue's transfer to the [[United States Department of War|War Department]], as it had proved useless as a lighthouse.{{sfn|Moreno|2000|p=41}} A unit of the [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Army Signal Corps]] was stationed on Bedloe's Island until 1923, after which military police remained there while the island was under military jurisdiction.{{sfn|Moreno|2000|p=24}}

Wars and other upheavals in Europe prompted large-scale emigration to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century; many entered through New York and saw the statue not as a symbol of enlightenment, as Bartholdi had intended, but as a sign of welcome to their new home. The association with immigration only became stronger when an immigrant processing station was opened on nearby Ellis Island. This view was consistent with Lazarus's vision in her sonnet—she described the statue as "Mother of Exiles"—but her work had become obscure. In 1903, the sonnet was engraved on a plaque that was affixed to the base of the statue.<ref>{{Cite web|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|access-date=April 8, 2020|date=February 26, 2015|title=The immigrants' statue|url=https://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/the-immigrants-statue.htm|archive-date=February 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228081108/https://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/the-immigrants-statue.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Oral histories of immigrants record their feelings of exhilaration on first viewing the Statue of Liberty. One immigrant who arrived from Greece recalled:

{{Blockquote|I saw the Statue of Liberty. And I said to myself, "Lady, you're such a beautiful!{{sic}} You opened your arms and you get all the foreigners here. Give me a chance to prove that I am worth it, to do something, to be someone in America." And always that statue was on my mind.{{sfn|Sutherland|2003|p=78}}}}

The statue rapidly became a landmark.{{sfn|Sutherland|2003|p=78}} Originally, it was a dull copper color, but shortly after 1900 a green [[patina]], also called [[verdigris]], caused by the oxidation of the copper skin, began to spread. As early as 1902 it was mentioned in the press; by 1906 it had entirely covered the statue.<ref name=NYT2009a/> Believing that the patina was evidence of corrosion, Congress authorized {{US$|62800|1906|round=-3}} for various repairs, and to paint the statue both inside and out.<ref name=NYTpaint/> There was considerable public protest against the proposed exterior painting.<ref name=NYTtoilet/> The [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Corps of Engineers]] studied the patina for any ill effects to the statue and concluded that it protected the skin, "softened the outlines of the Statue and made it beautiful."{{sfn|Harris|1985|p=168}} The statue was painted only on the inside. The Corps of Engineers also installed an elevator to take visitors from the base to the top of the pedestal.{{sfn|Harris|1985|p=168}}
[[File:Black Tom Island from Liberty Island June 2024.jpg|alt=Black Tom Island as seen from Liberty Island in June 2024.|thumb|Black Tom Island as seen from Liberty Island in June 2024]]
On July 30, 1916, during World War I, German saboteurs set off [[Black Tom explosion|a disastrous explosion]] on the Black Tom peninsula in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]], in what is now part of [[Liberty State Park]], close to Bedloe's Island. Carloads of dynamite and other explosives that were being sent to Russia<ref name="Rielage">{{Cite book |last=Rielage |first=Dale C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0XauRj69-gsC&pg=PA71 |title=Russian Supply Efforts in America During the First World War |date=2002-01-01 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-1337-9 |pages=71 |language=en |access-date=2024-01-21 |archive-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104235143/https://books.google.com/books?id=0XauRj69-gsC&pg=PA71#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> for its war efforts were detonated. The statue sustained minor damage, mostly to the torch-bearing right arm, and was closed for ten days. The cost to repair the statue and buildings on the island was about {{US$|100000|1916|round=-4|about=yes|long=no}}. The narrow ascent to the torch was closed for public-safety reasons, and it has remained closed ever since.{{sfn|Moreno|2000|p=71}}

That same year, [[Ralph Pulitzer]], who had succeeded his father [[Joseph Pulitzer|Joseph]] as publisher of the ''World'', began a drive to raise {{US$|30000|1916|round=-3|long=no}} for an exterior lighting system to illuminate the statue at night. He claimed over 80,000 contributors, but failed to reach the goal. The difference was quietly made up by a gift from a wealthy donor—a fact that was not revealed until 1936. An underwater power cable brought electricity from the mainland and floodlights were placed along the walls of Fort Wood. [[Gutzon Borglum]], who later sculpted [[Mount Rushmore]], redesigned the torch, replacing much of the original copper with [[stained glass]]. On December 2, 1916, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] pressed the telegraph key that turned on the lights, successfully illuminating the statue.{{sfn|Harris|1985|pp=136–139}}

After the United States entered World War I in 1917, images of the statue were heavily used in both recruitment posters and the [[Liberty bond]] drives that urged American citizens to support the war financially. This impressed upon the public the war's stated purpose—to secure liberty—and served as a reminder that embattled France had given the United States the statue.{{sfn|Moreno|2000|pp=148–151}}

In 1924, President [[Calvin Coolidge]] used his authority under the [[Antiquities Act]] to declare the statue a [[national monument (United States)|national monument]].{{sfn|Moreno|2000|p=41}} A suicide occurred five years later when a man climbed out of one of the windows in the crown and jumped to his death.{{sfn|Harris|1985|p=147}}