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 somewhat larger-than-life size cast metal statues of wild animals, at least one of which is embossed with the name of the foundry. These castings and the replica all appear to be made of similar material and to be of similar age. It is also probable that they are near contemporaries of the actual Statue of Liberty. A large modern replica stands in front of the New York City Center, a shopping center constructed in 1999 in Barra da Tijuca in the State of Rio de Janeiro. The Havan department store chain has replicas in many of their stores. The largest