Statue of Liberty of War; since 1933 it has been maintained by the National Park Service. Public access to the balcony around the torch has been barred for safety since 1916. According to the National Park Service, the idea for the Statue of Liberty was first proposed by Édouard René de Laboulaye, president of the French Anti-Slavery Society and a prominent and important political thinker of his time. The project is traced to a mid-1865 conversation between de Laboulaye, a staunch abolitionist, and Frédéric Bartholdi, a sculptor. In after-dinner conversation at his home near Versailles, Laboulaye, an ardent supporter of the Union in
Replicas of the Statue of Liberty the United States Declaration of Independence) like the New York statue, and "XIV JUILLET 1789" (July 14, 1789: the storming of the Bastille) associated with an equal sign. This statue is shown in the film "" as a historic location. The tall original plaster maquette finished in 1878 by Auguste Bartholdi that was used to make the statue in New York is in the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris. This original plaster was bequeathed by the artist's widow in 1907, together with part of the artist's estate. On the square outside the Musée des Arts et Métierss entrance