LADY LIBERTY PROJECT         

 

Liberty and Justice for ALL!

 

 

July 4th, 2025 “Lady Liberty Project” was launched, a street theater presence to honor our American icon, the Statue of Liberty and Mother of Exiles.

 

As a celebration with the public, we threw a dance and skating party at Seattle's Alki Beach around a small-scale replica of the statue. This project is an affirmation and a plea to uphold our country's best core values, to illuminate what she represents:

 

LIBERTY:  from monarchy    from tyranny     from oligarchy

 

ENLIGHTENMENT: lead with knowledge, reason and compassion 

 

This is a collaboration of friends who want to inform, inspire and ignite awareness of the values of Lady Liberty with music, dance, poetry, stories and song.  

We strive to:

 

    - Sustain the view of Lady Liberty as a world beacon of welcoming.

 

    - Recall the words of The New Colossus, Emma Lazarus’ famed sonnet.

 

    - PROTECT DEMOCRACY.  Lady Liberty's best values compel us to:

 

1. Respect the consitution

2. Uphold rule of law

3. Honor separation of power

4. Regard transparency and accountability

5. Support voter rights for all

 

 

The inspiration to germinate this project was my undocumented grandfather, who at 19 sailed from Germany as World War I broke out. He entered through Ellis Island and slipped into the throng of laborers, changed his name and language to survive. He kept his stories hidden until the centennial of the statue in 1986. Being an immigrant was an open secret in my family until “Frank” was 90 and finally shared his back pages with me in a bond of trust. We all have stories. There are many aspects of immigration to learn and consider.              

   -  Ariel Rathbun

 

 

                                   EDUCATIONAL POINTS OF INTEREST

 

Documentaries

 

PBS: Iconic America, Statue of Liberty (preview)  https://youtu.be/AxMkbNPUa1M

 

Statue of Liberty, Ken Burns 1985. https://images.app.goo.gl/UhmUw28Lih2YcjsJ9

 

History of Statue of Liberty: https://www.statueofliberty.org/statue-of-liberty/overview-history/

 

 

History

 

The New Colossus, Emma Lazarus's sonnet

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46550/the-new-colossus

 

History of poem, The New Colossus: https://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/colossus.htm?ref=popsugar.com&=___psv__p_44842787__t_w_

 

Ten less known facts about the Statue of Liberty:

https://parade.com/311395/viannguyen/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-statue-of-liberty-she-was-almost-gold/

 

Podcasts

 

8 podcasts on immigrant stories: https://www.boundless.com/blog/top-immigrant-podcasts/

 

Social Media

 

Instagram:

 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg2NnSHr-NZ/?igsh=MW1pZXRoc2wxdjJ2NA==

 

Music

AI "modern song" of The New Colossus: https://suno.com/s/GGhoJgPZoBxzIEcP

 

Irving Berlin song to The New Colossus: https://youtube.com/shorts/DBnHy1y3CCI?si=-1r11FMvwAQLXB4M

 

 

Reference Books:

 

Lady Liberty, Luce Lebart & Sam Stourdze

 

The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World,

Hein de Haas

 

Human Migration, Barbara Krasner

 

Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings, Reyna Grande

 

 

Children's Books:

 

Lady Liberty's Right Foot, Dave Eggers

 

Emma's Poem, Linda Glaser

 

The Story of the Statue of Liberty, Betsy & Giulio Maestro

 

Ellis Island and Immigration, Jean Daigneau

 

Lady Liberty, a Biography, Doreen Rappaport & Matt Taveres

 

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