Timelines

Migration is a natural part of living systems, and human history is no exception. Yet it remains one of the most debated public issues of our time.

Both people and borders move. Who is allowed to move, and who is granted rights, lies at the heart of how nations define belonging. In Germany and the United States alike, these debates have been deeply intertwined with evolving ideas of race and ethnicity.

These timelines trace how citizenship and belonging have been constructed, challenged, and redefined through laws, social movements, global events, and cultural works — and how those histories continue to shape the present.

1886

Statue of Liberty dedicated

On October 28, 1886, a tremendous crowd converged in New York Harbor to celebrate the dedication of the Statue of Liberty, which has come to represent a symbol of strength and freedom to millions of immigrants.

The statue created by French-sculptor Frederic Bartholdi is a rendition of Libertas (the Roman goddess of liberty). A gift from France, the statue was both a commemoration of international friendship and a celebration of American freedom and democracy in the wake of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. In 1903, an inscription was carved on the base of the statue quoting Jewish poet Emma Lazarus. The inscription reads: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” and solidified the statue’s symbolic role to welcome new immigrants to the United States through its busiest port. The statue was declared a national monument in 1924.

With Wings and Roots

Praying to the Statue of Liberty for Immigration Reform

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...

- Emma Lazarus

United States

Sources

Sabina Yasmin Khan. Enlightening the world: The creation of the statue of Liberty. New York: Cornell University Press, 2010.

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