In context

  Today is the anniversary of the dedication of the stature of liberty. Dedicated in 1886, as we all know, a gift from France. Many don't know that the base wasn't included in that gift. The land, then called Bedloe's island belonged to the united states government. President US Grant approved the land use and President Grover Cleveland was there for the dedication of the statue. The name of the island wasn't officially changed to Liberty Island until 1956. In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson made Ellis Island a part of the Statue of Liberty national monument. Several government agencies have overlooked the maintenance of that statue. Currently the National Park Service holds responsibility.

  Funds were required to build the base of that statue. Congress could not decide upon a funding package for that construction. The cost was 100,000 dollars, that is about 3.5 million today. The government simply said, we can't afford that. The public in general wasn't too excited about the project and many congressmen opposed the whole thing. The original intent of the statue was to act as an "influencer" to the rest of the world. That is what France was hoping as France was a  big supporter of the United States and very much admired our constitutional republic. Abolishing slavery was represented with that statue as well, and that is what the influence was hoped to be, freedom. Joseph Pulitzer, the famous publishers headed up the effort to raise those funds. Interesting to note is that there is no record of him ever contributing to that fund. But, the famous sonnet The New Colossus, penned by Emma Lazarus and published by Pulitzer, did raise significant funds and raised an awareness. It's important to remember we only had 36 states at that time. The west was still quite wild. If it weren't were wealthy Americans, it would have never been erected. 

  The structure inside the statue, the steel framework that supports her, was designed by the same guy that built the Eifel tower. The French people paid him for that design work. The framework has to "flex" just a bit to prevent the whole thing from cracking apart. The outer copper sheeting that makes up the actual figure was made by Frederic Bartholdi. It was all shipped to America in pieces, paid for by France. It was now up to us to assemble her. At one time the arm was displayed around the country for fundraising efforts. Remember this was just 23 years after the civil war and money was tight and southern sentiments were still bitter. A giant statue representing America, in New York harbor, celebrating the freedom of all peoples, wasn't exactly a well received idea down south. Political rhetoric ran rampant.

  Today we mostly see Lady Liberty as a symbol of America. She stands for freedom, for America, and a promise. In that famous sonnet Emma Lazarus called New York harbor the "golden door." There was no Ellis Island as we know from history. Immigrants entered the country in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Orleans, and Boston as well. My own ancestors entered through Castle Garden, New York in 1855. The "golden door" Emma refers too metaphorically, is the opportunity offered in America. That sonnet isn't a policy statement from the United States government! You had to meet certain requirements before being allowed to enter that golden door! Those requirements have changed  over the 139 years Lady Liberty has been watching. The requirements are far less stringent than in the past. Still requirements exist. The Golden Door. It isn't an open door policy! It's an opportunity not a guarantee. Everyone is given an equal opportunity, but equal results are not guaranteed! 

                                                                                      

Emma Lazarus, the author , was a poet and an activist. She was deeply concerned with the Jewish peoples' mistreatment in Russia at that time. Imperial Russia imposed a special tax on Jews and forced their children to attend special schools to indoctrinate them to becoming Russian. That is what was on the mind of Emma in writing the sonnet. As with all pieces of art and literature it is open to interpretation. The context is dependent upon the times. Lacking that context misunderstanding arise.