Statue of Liberty Congress officially renamed Bedloe's Island as Liberty Island, a change advocated by Bartholdi generations earlier. The act also mentioned the efforts to found an American Museum of Immigration on the island, which backers took as federal approval of the project, though the government was slow to grant funds for it. Nearby Ellis Island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument by proclamation of President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. In 1972, the immigration museum, in the statue's base, was finally opened in a ceremony led by President Richard Nixon. The museum's backers never provided it with an endowment
Replicas of the Statue of Liberty and Puerto Rico. The Boy Scouts of the Philippines, on the other hand, received its own replica in the early part of 1950. The statues were donated by the Boy Scouts of America as “an expression of scout brotherhood and goodwill.” Not surprisingly, their 40th anniversary theme was “Strengthen the Arm of Liberty.” Miniature versions of the statue were also given as gifts. In fact, the Philippines became the first independent nation to receive one of the 4,000 eight-inch statues from the Boy Scouts of America. In April 1950, the said statue was officially given by Chief Scout Executive Arthur