On the afternoon of October 28, 1886, the then president and former Governor of New York, Grover Cleveland, presided over the inauguration of the Statue of Liberty.
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A grand parade was held in New York City this morning, with an estimated number of people participating and watching between hundreds of thousands and nearly a million. President Cleveland led the parade and then stood on the viewing platform to watch bands and parades from across the country.
Butlerdi's design patent
General Stone was the ceremonial officer of the parade. The procession departed from Madison Square, where the statue's arms were once displayed, and passed through Fifth Avenue and Broadway to Battery Park, the southernmost point of Manhattan, with a small detour in between so that the party could pass in front of The Monde's building on Park Street.
As the parade passed by the New York Stock Exchange, traders threw paper tapes out of windows, adding a new tradition of paper tape parades to New York.
At 12:45 p.m., another sea parade began, and President Cleveland boarded a yacht and headed to Bedrow Island to prepare for the inauguration ceremony. De Reiseb first took the stage on behalf of the French Commission, followed by the chairman of the New York Committee, Senator William W. Bush. M. Evac. Towards the end of Evac's speech, the French flag that blocked the statue's face was gradually lowered to unveil it, but Butlerdi lowered the flag early because he mistook a pause in the speech for the end, and the ensuing cheers forced Evarts to end his speech.
President Cleveland then took to the stage to speak, saying that the statue's "light will pierce the darkness of ignorance and human oppression until freedom illuminates the world." Butlerdi, who was watching from near the podium, was also invited to speak on stage, but he declined the kindness of the crowd. The last speaker was the orator Chauncey Depew, who spoke very lengthily.
The inauguration ceremony was only open to dignitaries and was not attended by ordinary people. Only two women were allowed to attend, Mrs. Bartholedy and granddaughter of de Reiseb, and the official narrative is that they fear women will be injured in the crowd.
Feminists in New York were unhappy with the restrictions, and they chartered a boat to reach the nearest location they could reach.
The group's leaders gave speeches welcoming the statue's use of a woman as a symbol of freedom and advocating for women to vote. Due to poor weather conditions, the planned fireworks display was postponed until November 1.
Shortly after the inauguration, the Cleveland Gazette, an African-American newspaper, argued that the torch on the statue should not be lit until the United States became a free nation "realistically":