Claim 3: The original model for the Statue of Liberty was a black woman, but the design was changed to appease white Americans who would not accept an African-American Liberty. Finding: The statue's design almost certainly evolved from an earlier concept Bartholdi proposed for a colossal monument in Egypt, for which the artist used his drawings ...

Jun 11, 2020 · A post by a Facebook user claims that France had originally given a much different statue of liberty to the United States, honoring freed Black slaves, but that it was rejected and replaced by...

Jul 10, 2020 · Social media users are circulating posts which claim that New York’s Statue of Liberty was originally modeled after an enslaved Black woman. This primary claim is false. The original model of...

Jan 17, 2022 · The original idea for the Statue of Liberty is connected more to abolition than immigration. Here's how it celebrates the end of slavery for African Americans.

Feb 12, 2025 · In some ways, the evolution of the design of the Statue of Liberty—the moving of the broken shackle and chain from her hands to being half hidden beneath her robe, as well as the movement of our perception of her symbolism from abolition to immigration—is representative of how we've chosen to portray ourselves as a nation.

Jan 28, 2014 · There have been many claims on the internet and elsewhere that the Statue of Liberty was originally intended to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States following the end of the Civil War, and that the model for the Statue was an African American woman.

Sep 29, 2015 · The claim is the original Statue of Liberty was a black women, given to celebrate the end of the Civil War, and the US end to slavery. For example, Urban Intellectuals claim to have evidence to support this claim.

According to a persistent rumor among African Americans, the sculpture that rises grandly from Liberty Island in New York Harbor is not the original Statue of Liberty. The true original was modeled after a black woman and had African features.

Apr 1, 2025 · The first Statue of Liberty, often referred to as the “Black Statue of Liberty,” symbolized freedom for African Americans by embodying the ideals of liberty and equality while also highlighting the ongoing struggles against oppression and racism.