When the “Lady in the Harbor” first arrived in New York in 1886, she didn’t look like the mint-green icon we know today. In fact, for the first twenty years of her life, she stood as a towering, metallic beacon of reddish-gold. Here is the story of how “Liberty Enlightening the World” underwent a two-decade chemical transformation. A Penny for Your Thoughts: The Original Look Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and engineered by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the statue was a gift from France to America. To build her, Bartholdi chose copper for three practical reasons: Malleability: It could be hammered into elaborate, thin sheets. Weight: Copper is lighter than stone or bronze, making it easier to ship 350 individual pieces across the Atlantic. Durability: It was strong enough to survive a 27-day ocean voyage and the harsh winds of the harbor. When she was unveiled on October 28, 1886, her skin—made of 300 copper sheets roughly the thickness of two pennies—shone with a bright, metallic brown luster. The Science of the “Green” The transformation from “penny-colored” to “patina-green” wasn’t planned. Bartholdi actually expected the statue to age into a deeper, darker red. However, the unique environment of New York Harbor—a mix of salt air, moisture, and industrial pollution—triggered a process called oxidation. The Timeline of Change: 1886–1900: The bright copper dulled into a dark, muddy brown. 1903: The first hints of a light green crust, or “patina,” began to appear. 1906: The color change was so controversial that Congress nearly stepped in. They appropriated $62,000 to paint the statue back to its original color, but the public protested, calling the idea “sacrilege.” 1910–1920: The statue was a patchy mix of brown and green until 1920, when the oxidation was complete, leaving her entirely teal. Why We Don’t “Fix” It While we now view the green color as iconic, it actually serves a vital structural purpose. The layer of verdigris (the green patina) acts as a protective shield. It seals the copper underneath, preventing the metal from further corrosion and weathering. By the time the color fully changed, a new generation of immigrants had arrived in America seeing a green statue. To them, the copper version felt like a relic of the past; the green Lady Liberty was the one who welcomed them home. Sources: The First 100 Days of the Second Trump Administration The Trump Administration’s 2025 Changes to Immigration Law … The Anti-Immigrant Policies in Trump’s Final “Big Beautiful Bill …