--- description: LIFE.com presents classic photos of Lady Liberty through the years. title: The Statue of Liberty: Stirring Photos of the Face of Freedom image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e8454d1aa70c821/69884a5dcd6848259609f4ad/01_00240318.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [architecture & design](/tag/architecture-design/) ## architecture & design Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Face of Freedom: LIFE Portraits of the Statue of Liberty by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2014 6:44 PM CUT  Statue of Liberty, 1951. Statue of Liberty, 1951.Margaret Bourke-White—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2014 6:44 PM CUT LIFE magazine once offered some thoughts on the nature of Independence Day that might sound, to our modern ears, both quaint and—despite the dull, predictable snark that colors so much of contemporary culture—somehow still quite genuine: --- > “” --- Here, long after those words were written, and on the anniversary of the day the Statue of Liberty was dedicated (Oct. 28, 1886), here are photos of Lady Liberty as captured by LIFE photographers through the years. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 29, 2009 in Washington, DC. Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ---  Statue of Liberty, 1951. Margaret Bourke-White—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Statue of Liberty, 1946. Andreas Feininger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Statue of Liberty, 1950. Margaret Bourke-White—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Statue of Liberty, 1956. Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Statue of Liberty, 1951. Margaret Bourke-White—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Statue of Liberty, 1959. Stan Wayman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Harry Belafonte speaks at a civil rights rally at the Statue of Liberty, 1960. Al Fenn—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Korea's Children's Choir visits the Statue of Liberty, 1954. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Statue of Liberty, 1931. Pictures Inc.—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Statue of Liberty, 1961. Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Statue of Liberty, 1939. Margaret Bourke-White—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Statue of Liberty, unknown date. Al Fenn—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor, 1939. Margaret Bourke-White—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Statue of Liberty seen during World War II, 1942. Andreas Feininger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3880178/the-statue-of-liberty-stirring-photos-of-the-face-of-freedom/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3880178/the-statue-of-liberty-stirring-photos-of-the-face-of-freedom/"},"headline":"The Face of Freedom: LIFE Portraits of the Statue of Liberty","datePublished":"2014-06-16T18:44:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:40.488Z","description":"On the anniversary of the day the Statue of Liberty was dedicated (Oct. 28, 1886), here are photos of Lady Liberty as captured by LIFE photographers through the years.","url":"https://time.com/3880178/the-statue-of-liberty-stirring-photos-of-the-face-of-freedom/","keywords":["architecture & design","New York City","photography","statue of liberty","black and white photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e8454d1aa70c821/69884a5dcd6848259609f4ad/01_00240318.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e8454d1aa70c821/69884a5dcd6848259609f4ad/01_00240318.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Statue of Liberty, 1951","caption":"Statue of Liberty, 1951.","creditText":"Margaret Bourke-White—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/architecture-design/","name":"architecture & design"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3880178/the-statue-of-liberty-stirring-photos-of-the-face-of-freedom/","name":"The Face of Freedom: LIFE Portraits of the Statue of Liberty"}}]}] ```