Editing Statue of Liberty (section)

===Announcement and early work===
By 1875, France was enjoying improved political stability and a recovering postwar economy. Growing interest in the upcoming [[Centennial Exposition]] to be held in [[Philadelphia]] led Laboulaye to decide it was time to seek public support.{{sfn|Khan|2010|p=121}} In September 1875, he announced the project and the formation of the Franco-American Union as its fundraising arm. With the announcement, the statue was given a name, ''Liberty Enlightening the World''.{{sfn|Khan|2010|pp=123–125}} The French people were to finance the statue (contrary to the common misconception of it being funded by the French national government);<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tharoor |first=Ishaan |date=November 20, 2015 |title=The Middle Eastern origins of the Statue of Liberty |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/20/the-middle-eastern-origins-of-the-statue-of-liberty/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121174550/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/20/the-middle-eastern-origins-of-the-statue-of-liberty/ |archive-date=November 21, 2015 |access-date=June 26, 2024 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> and Americans would be expected to pay for the pedestal.{{sfn|Harris|1985|pp=44–45}} The announcement provoked a generally favorable reaction in France, though many Frenchmen resented the United States for not coming to their aid during [[Franco-Prussian War|the war with Prussia]].{{sfn|Khan|2010|pp=123–125}} [[Orléanist|French monarchists]] opposed the statue, if for no other reason than it was proposed by the liberal Laboulaye, who had recently been elected a [[senator for life#France|senator for life]].{{sfn|Harris|1985|pp=44–45}} Laboulaye arranged events designed to appeal to the rich and powerful, including a special performance at the [[Paris Opera]] on April 25, 1876, that featured a new [[cantata]] by the composer [[Charles Gounod]]. The piece was titled ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'', the French version of the statue's announced name.{{sfn|Khan|2010|pp=123–125}}
[[File:Collossal hand and torch. Bartholdi's statue of "Liberty.", from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|[[Stereoscope|Stereoscopic image]] of right arm and torch of the Statue of Liberty, [[Centennial Exposition|1876 Centennial Exposition]]]]

Initially focused on the elites, the Union was successful in raising funds from across French society. Schoolchildren and ordinary citizens gave, as did 181&nbsp;French municipalities. Laboulaye's political allies supported the call, as did descendants of the [[Franco-American alliance|French contingent]] in the [[American Revolutionary War]]. Less idealistically, contributions came from those who hoped for American support in the French attempt to build the [[Panama Canal]]. The copper may have come from multiple sources and some of it is said to have come from a mine in [[Visnes, Rogaland|Visnes]], Norway,<ref name=Norway/> though this has not been conclusively determined after testing samples.<ref name=NYT2009b/> According to Cara Sutherland in her book on the statue for the [[Museum of the City of New York]], {{convert|200,000|lb|kg}} was needed to build the statue, and the French copper industrialist [[Eugène Secrétan]] donated {{convert|128,000|lb|kg}} of copper.{{sfn|Sutherland|2003|p=36}}

Although plans for the statue had not been finalized, Bartholdi moved forward with fabrication of the right arm, bearing the torch, and the head. Work began at the Gaget, Gauthier & Co. workshop.{{sfn|Khan|2010|pp=126–128}} In May 1876, Bartholdi traveled to the United States as a member of a French delegation to the Centennial Exhibition,{{sfn|Bell|Abrams|1984|p=25}} and arranged for a huge painting of the statue to be shown in New York as part of the Centennial festivities.{{sfn|Bell|Abrams|1984|p=26}} The arm did not arrive in Philadelphia until August; because of its late arrival, it was not listed in the exhibition catalogue, and while some reports correctly identified the work, others called it the "Colossal Arm" or "Bartholdi Electric Light". The exhibition grounds contained a number of monumental artworks to compete for fairgoers' interest, including [[Bartholdi Fountain|an outsized fountain]] designed by Bartholdi.{{sfn|Khan|2010|p=130}} Nevertheless, the arm proved popular in the exhibition's waning days, and visitors would climb up to the balcony of the torch to view the fairgrounds.{{sfn|Harris|1985|p=49}} After the exhibition closed, the arm was transported to New York City, where it remained on display in [[Madison Square Park]] for several years before it was returned to France to join the rest of the statue.{{sfn|Harris|1985|p=49}}

During his second trip to the United States, Bartholdi addressed a number of groups about the project, and urged the formation of American committees of the Franco-American Union.{{sfn|Khan|2010|p=134}} Committees to raise money to pay for the foundation and pedestal were formed in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.{{sfn|Bell|Abrams|1984|p=30}} The New York group eventually took on most of the responsibility for American fundraising and is often referred to as the "American Committee".{{sfn|Moreno|2000|p=94}} One of its members was 19-year-old [[Theodore Roosevelt]], the future governor of New York and president of the United States.{{sfn|Khan|2010|p=134}} On March 3, 1877, on his final full day in office, President Grant signed a joint resolution that authorized the President to accept the statue when it was presented by France and to select a site for it. President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]], who took office the following day, selected the Bedloe's Island site that Bartholdi had proposed.{{sfn|Khan|2010|p=135}}