Of Maidens and Missiles

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On October 28:

1886:  President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.  The statue (originally titled “Liberty Enlightening the World”) was placed on Bedloe’s island in New York Harbor, which was renamed “Liberty Island” in 1956.  The statue was not declared a national monument until 1924, by which time it had already welcomed more than 12 million immigrants to U.S. shores.

1962:  Nikita Krushchev agreed to remove Soviet nuclear missiles from Cuba in return for the United States’ promise to respect Cuban sovereignty, ending the two-week standoff remembered as the “Cuban Missile Crisis.”

What makes this day important for you?

2 thoughts on “Of Maidens and Missiles”

  • Belinda Kroll
    October 28, 2010 at 1:35 pm
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    By the way, women were not allowed on the island for the dedication of Lady Liberty. Punk men and their punk concerns about some punk weak women. 😉

    No members of the general public were permitted on the island during the ceremonies, which were reserved entirely for dignitaries. The only females granted access were Bartholdi’s wife and de Lesseps’s granddaughter; officials stated that they feared women might be injured in the crush of people. The restriction offended area suffragists, who chartered a boat and got as close as they could to the island. The group’s leaders made speeches applauding the embodiment of Liberty as a woman and advocating women’s right to vote.

    • sspannPost author
      October 28, 2010 at 1:45 pm
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      Ironic, eh? “Give us your tired, your poor and your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” took us longer to get right than it should have, for sure.

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