The liberty was the freedom of the slaves. Joseph also is checking into the possibility that a 21-inch model of Lady Liberty completed by Bartholdi in 1870 may have been based on the likeness of a black woman. Joseph would not say what she has discovered so far. Her final report is due for release this summer. Those people who are looking for a report that s going to support the most traditional interpretation of the Statue of Liberty are going to be disappointed, she said, and those who are looking for a report that will support the rumors in their entirety will also be disappointed.
History is much more complicated than that.
It s not a sound bite.