On June 17, 1885, 350 carefully-wrapped sections of what would become the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor. The statue was a gift of friendship from the people of France to Americans. (France had been vital to the colonists during the Revolutionary War.) The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886, by President Cleveland, who said, “We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected.”
