In 1885, the Statue of Liberty reached New York in 214 crates and remained crated for nearly a year while the unfinished pedestal was completed after its fundraising had run short. A newspaper asked its readers to pay for the base; more than 120,000 of them did.

In 1885, the Statue of Liberty reached New York in 214 crates and remained crated for nearly a year while the unfinished pedestal was completed after its fundraising had run short. A newspaper asked its readers to pay for the base; more than 120,000 of them did.

A gift from France arrived in pieces, but Americans couldn't afford to assemble it—until a newspaper publisher bet that ordinary readers could succeed where the wealthy had failed.