Statue of Liberty National Monument national monument in 1924. In 1937, by proclamation 2250, President Franklin D. Roosevelt expanded the monument to include all of Bedloe's Island, and in 1956, an act of Congress officially renamed it Liberty Island. Ellis Island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument by proclamation of President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. The United States historic district, a single listing on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, was designated in 1966. The islands were closed during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 and suffered severe damage. Liberty Island reopened July 4, 2013; Ellis Island re-opened October 24, 2013.
John S. McKiernan in 1952 and 1954, McKiernan resigned as lieutenant governor in 1956 to accept an appointment as an associate justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court. A Roman Catholic, he was married to Elizabeth St. Pierre. John S. McKiernan John Sammon McKiernan (October 15, 1911 – March 9, 1997) was the United States Democratic politician, who served as the Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island from 1947–1950 and 1951–1956 and briefly the 62nd Governor of Rhode Island (1950–1951). Born in Providence, Rhode Island, McKiernan graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1934 and from Boston University School of Law in 1937.