Strengthen the Arm of Liberty Strengthen the Arm of Liberty Strengthen the Arm of Liberty was the Boy Scouts of America's theme for the organization's fortieth anniversary celebration in 1950. The campaign was inaugurated in February with a dramatic ceremony held at the base of the Statue of Liberty ("Liberty Enlightening the World"). Approximately 200 BSA Statue of Liberty replicas were installed across the United States. Hundreds of smaller replicas of the Statue of Liberty have been created worldwide. The classical appearance (Roman stola, sandals, facial expression) derives from Libertas, ancient Rome's goddess of freedom from slavery, oppression, and tyranny. Her raised right foot is
Statue of Liberty public protest against the proposed exterior painting. The Army Corps of Engineers studied the patina for any ill effects to the statue and concluded that it protected the skin, "softened the outlines of the Statue and made it beautiful." The statue was painted only on the inside. The Corps of Engineers also installed an elevator to take visitors from the base to the top of the pedestal. On July 30, 1916, during World War I, German saboteurs set off a disastrous explosion on the Black Tom peninsula in Jersey City, New Jersey, in what is now part of Liberty State