Educators are well aware that travel is one of the most meaningful experiential learning opportunities available for both themselves and for their students. And Winter Break is a great time for travel. Earlier this month, my husband Hal and I traveled to New York City, where we visited the Statue of Liberty. We spent several hours there, wandering among the exhibits and taking in the views. An exploration of this place offers an excellent opportunity to incorporate a history lesson about this important place into the classroom curriculum.
Author Terry Lee Marzell and her husband, Hal, visited the Statue of Liberty in December, 2024. The visit prompts ideas about how to share this experience with students. Photo credit: Hal Marzell
“The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World” was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886. Since then, the statue has become a universal symbol of freedom and democracy throughout the world. Liberty Enlightening the World was designated a National Monument in 1924, and has been operated under the auspices of the National Park Service since 1933.
Hal and I took the Statue City Cruise (the official ferry, and the only one that lands on the islands) from the Battery to Liberty Island. There we self-toured the pedestal area, a full ten stories up. The views from up there, at the feet of Lady Liberty, are amazing. We were unable to climb to the crown because tickets for that part of the statue sell out four months in advance. Keep that in mind if you plan to escort your students there. After touring the pedestal, we entered the museum and learned all about the creation of the monument.
After touring Liberty Island, we re-boarded the ferry, which carried us to Ellis Island. Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the country. During the years from 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 million immigrants arrived on American shores and were admitted to the country there. Ellis Island became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965. I was surprised to find a research center providing information about immigrants who were processed at this processing station. We were thrilled to find information about Hal’s maternal grandfather that we hadn’t known before! We also viewed displays of fascinating artifacts brought into the country by various groups of immigrants, and some displays of the costumes they wore in their native countries.
All in all, our visit to the Statue of Liberty spanned an entire day, for it was well after dark by the time we returned to the Battery. But we were well-satisfied with our visit there. If you are not able to visit the site in person with your students, you can direct them to the resources available at the Statue of Liberty website. You could also share this very nice virtual tour and explanatory video about the monument on YouTube:
