Statue of Liberty of War; since 1933 it has been maintained by the National Park Service. Public access to the balcony around the torch has been barred for safety since 1916. According to the National Park Service, the idea for the Statue of Liberty was first proposed by Édouard René de Laboulaye, president of the French Anti-Slavery Society and a prominent and important political thinker of his time. The project is traced to a mid-1865 conversation between de Laboulaye, a staunch abolitionist, and Frédéric Bartholdi, a sculptor. In after-dinner conversation at his home near Versailles, Laboulaye, an ardent supporter of the Union in
Replicas of the Statue of Liberty Other "Liberty Enlightening the World" statues are displayed in Poitiers and Lunel. The Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon owns a terracotta version. Near Chaumont, Haute Marne, is a miniature replica in the flag plaza of the former Chaumont Air Base. This was the home of the US 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, now based at Lakenheath, England, with its own statue at the flag plaza. The 48th TFW is the only USAF wing with a name: "The Statue of Liberty Wing". Another example is of a "Liberty Enlightening the World" replica in Châteauneuf-la-Forêt, near the city of Limoges in the area