Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Arrival Of Lady Liberty

12 min • 17 juni 2025

Still the tallest statue in the USA, the Statue of Liberty arrived from France - in no less than 214 crates - in New York City on 17th June, 1885.

Costing just $10m in today’s money, the Lady went on to symbolise the immigrant journey - even though the designers and engineers behind it had no such intention. And it wasn’t supposed to be green, either - that’s because it’s oxidized.

In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion consider whether NYC bagged themselves a bargain, reveal the origins of the ‘ticker tape parade’, and wonder if they could ever do something so epic for their Mums...

Further Reading:

• The Statue of Liberty: Building an Icon (The B1M, 2017): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QM0tipFQ9c

• History on ‘How The Statue of Liberty Became An Icon’:

https://www.history.com/news/statue-of-liberty-icon-building

• Reuters fact-check: why Lady Liberty is NOT an enslaved black woman (2020): 

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-statue-liberty-design-idUSKBN24B2L1


This episode first aired in 2021


Love the show? Support us! 

Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… 

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. 

Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Senaste avsnitt

Podcastbild

00:00 -00:00
00:00 -00:00