Liberty National statue

The Liberty National statue is a 36-foot-tall, 1/5th scale bronze replica of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi's "Liberty Enlightening the World" which has stood in New York Harbor since 1886. The replica was commissioned by Birmingham's Liberty National Life Insurance Company in 1958 and installed atop their downtown headquarters building at 300 20th Street South in 1958.

Liberty National president Frank Samford suggested having the statue, long used as the company's emblem, placed on the building as early as 1952. The board approved of the idea and the Chicago-based German-American sculptor Lee Lawrie and his son Archer were awarded the commission to produce a plaster original from which a casting could be made. No American firm could be found to perform the casting, so the plaster original was sent to Sommervoire, Haut Marne, France to be cast by the Société Anonyme des Éstablissements Métallurgiques A. Durenne et du Val d'Osne in 1956.

The mould was designed and produced at the forge. To save weight, the bronze statue was designed as a hollow shell supported by a steel armature. Once the casting was produced, it was given a chemical treatment to enhance its patination and make it more closely resemble the copper statue in New York. It was also fitted with a gas-fueled torch complete with an electrical spark emitter to re-light the torch in case high wind snuffed the flame.

Before sending her off, the foundry held its own dedication ceremony. The statue was then enclosed in a watertight steel box measuring 13 feet wide and 14 feet tall for its trans-Atlantic voyage. It was shipped to the Port of New Orleans on the S. S. Velma Lykes and there transferred to a hat car on the Southern Railway for the final 355-mile journey to Birmingham.

On September 13 an unveiling ceremony was held on the sidewalk in front of the Liberty National building. The ceremony included speeches and music provided by a brass band. Over the course of an hour, a 12-man crew from Brice Building Company used a crane to lift the 10-ton statue 175 feet to its perch.

Liberty National provided guides, called "Liberty Belles", to conduct tours for visitors wishing to see the statue up close.

References

• "A Ten - Ton Lady Rides the Southern" (October 1958) TIES, The Southern Railway System Magazine