DOTD For Wednesday, June 17, 2026
This One Is For The Original American Woman (Who Was A French Immigrant)
Today’s DOTD - Drink Of The Day - is a New York Sour inspired by the arrival of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor on this date, June 17, 1885
Creating the Statue 1865 - 1886
The Early Stages
In 1865, a French political intellectual and anti-slavery activist named Edouard de Laboulaye proposed that a statue representing liberty be built for the United States. This monument would honor the United States’ centennial of independence and its friendship with France. French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi supported de Laboulaye’s idea and in 1870 began designing the statue of “Liberty Enlightening the World.”
While Bartholdi was designing the Statue, he also took a trip to the United States in 1871. During the trip, Bartholdi selected Bedloe’s Island as the site for the Statue. Although the island was small, it was visible to every ship entering New York Harbor, which Bartholdi viewed as the “gateway to America.”
In 1876, French artisans and craftsmen began constructing the Statue in France under Bartholdi’s direction at his studio in Paris. The arm holding the torch was completed that first year, 1876, shipped to the United States, and shown at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.
The head and shoulders were completed in 1878 and displayed at the Paris Universal Exposition.
The entire Statue was completed and assembled in Paris between 1881 and 1884. Also in 1884, construction on the pedestal began in the United States.
Crossing the Atlantic
After the Statue was presented to Levi P. Morton, the U.S. ambassador to France, on July 4, 1884 in Paris, it was disassembled and shipped to the United States aboard the French Navy ship, Isère.
The Statue arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885, and was met with great fanfare. Unfortunately, the pedestal for the Statue was not yet complete and the entire structure was not reassembled on Bedloe’s Island until 1886.
Assembling the Statue
Once the pedestal was completed in 1886, the Statue was reassembled with surprising speed by a fearless construction crew - many of whom were new immigrants.
The first piece of the Statue to be reconstructed was Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel’s iron framework. The rest of the Statue’s elements followed without the use of scaffolding - all construction materials were hoisted up by steam-driven cranes and derricks. In order to sculpt the Statue’s skin, Eiffel used the repoussé technique developed by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. This technique was the process of molding lightweight copper sheets by hammering them onto the Statue’s hallowed framework.
Although Fort Wood remained on Bedloe’s Island, it was not an obstacle in the design, construction, or reassembly of the Statue of Liberty. Instead, the star-shaped structure became a part of the Statue’s base - the pedestal sits within its walls.
The Statue Unveiled
On October 28, 1886, the statue of “Liberty Enlightening the World” was officially unveiled. The day’s wet and foggy weather did not stop some one million New Yorkers from turning out to cheer for The Statue of Liberty. Parades on land and sea honored the Statue while flags and music filled the air and the official dedication took place beneath the colossus “glistening with rain.” When it was time for Bartholdi to release the tricolor French flag that veiled Liberty’s face, a roar of guns, whistles, and applause sounded.
As a salute to Lady Liberty, and all those responsible for bringing her to the U.S., we raise a glass of today’s Drink Of The Day, a New York Sour!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’re going to need for this drink:
