The Statue of Liberty is a world-famous symbol of freedom, given in the 1880s by France to the United States[14] in celebration of friendship. Nearby Ellis Island was the first stop for millions of immigrants to the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The national monument recalls this period of massive immigration to the United States.
Inside the statue, a plaque is engraved with words from "The New Colossus", the poem by Emma Lazarus:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!