The stolen legacy of the most iconic symbol of the United States is a secret.
Stolen Legacy: The Hidden Truth About the Statue of Liberty
Did you know the Statue of Liberty was supposed to celebrate the end of slavery? I just learned this!
In an interview, Dr. Joy DeGruy, the author of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, describes how she went on a tour of the statue. Someone she cared about got a job there, so she joined the tour. The guides talked about every little detail of the statue. But they left something out—the chains. They never explained their meaning or why they were hidden.
Dr. DeGruy later included a picture of the original design of the statue in her updated book.
The Statue’s Original Meaning
The artist, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, had a big idea for the statue. He wanted it to stand for:
- the abolition of slavery in the U.S.
- the end of the Civil War (1861-1865)
- and the passage of the 13th Amendment (1865), which abolished slavery.
At first, he put broken chains in Liberty’s hand to make this message clear.
Why This Black History Truth Was Covered Up
Before Bartholdi could finish, powerful leaders in America told him to change the design. They didn’t like the chains in her hand. They worried it would upset people, especially in the South, where racism was and is still strong.
Even though Bartholdi fought to keep his design, he finally gave in. He moved the broken chains to Liberty’s feet instead.
Buried Truth: A Stolen Legacy
Bartholdi wanted people to notice the chains, but the final design hid them from view.
🔹 The statue stands on a tall pedestal, so you can’t see the chains from the ground.
🔹 The chains are also out of sight from visitors inside the statue.
This was no accident. The people in charge wanted the statue to stand for freedom—but not the freedom of enslaved people. They erased the true meaning so it wouldn’t upset those who still supported racism.
Hidden in Plain Sight: The Statue of Liberty’s Lost Symbol
It is a stolen legacy. A shameful cover-up. The original design would have made the statue a powerful, symbol of freedom from all oppression—including slavery. Instead, the focus shifted toward a general idea of liberty.
An Artist’s Dream, A Nation’s Cover-Up
As an artist, I feel deeply for Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. He got the opportunity of a lifetime to design a symbol that would be a famous icon. He had a chance to create something powerful—something that told the truth. But others changed his work. They took away the message he believed in. He wanted to celebrate freedom from slavery, but instead, they buried his vision.
This is a stolen legacy—a piece of history hidden in plain sight.
Supplies Used to Make This Drawing:
I made this artwork with a black pen, digital watermarks (stickers) and God given gifts of seeing things that others don’t.
- A gift of an intense love of colors, combinations of colors, and patterns.
- A gift of hypersensitivity to sounds, textures, and light levels.
- A gift of seeing clearly slight differences in color and tone and also feeling vibrations and tones in others.
Lies.
-Not the artist for the statue of liberty
-the artist is real. But he was hired to build a statue SOMEwhere else. It never got built, a lighthouse was built instead.
-multiple drawings were drawn as concepts for where to place the broken chains. Under the foot, on the foot, in the hand.
the facts: https://www.nyhistory.org/educational-video/whats-hidden-at-the-foot-of-the-statue-of-liberty…the statue’s early designs explicitly referenced emancipation, early maquettes show Lady Liberty holding broken chains (Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris), the change of meaning is outlined in this book: The Statue of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story (Icons of America) by Edward Berensen and the book i referenced: Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing by Joy DeGruy.