Was the Statue of Liberty modeled after a Black woman?

Answer 1

Authorities differ on the model for the Statue of Liberty. Some hold with the theory that it was modeled after Isabella Eugenie Boyer, the wife of Isaac Singer, the sewing-machine industrialist. Others believe that the model was the sculptor's mother, Charlotte Bartholdi (1801-1891), whom it greatly resembles. Both were white Frenchwomen.

Answer 2

To note though it is interesting you brought this question about. The person who modeled the Statue Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi in 1870, was displayed at the Museum of the City of New York, Feb. 9, 2000. The model has a broken chain around its hand, the actual statue in the harbor has a more understated broken shackle on its foot. National Park Service researchers here are investigating whether the actual statue dedicated 114 years ago was originally intended to mark the end of slavery in America.

The official history of the Statue of Liberty was proposed by French historian Edouard Laboulaye in 1865 to commemorate the friendship between France and the United States born during the Revolutionary War.

But Laboulaye was also a leader of the French abolitionist movement with a commitment to fighting slavery.

Taken that history here in the U.S. is very Eurocentric it would not surprise me of the change from its initial inception.

But keep in mind it had nothing to do with black soldiers fighting in the war