The people of France raised funds to create the Statue of Liberty as a gift of friendship to the United States. Americans had the task of raising money for the pedestal for the colossal statue, but they weren’t very successful at first. So why was it so hard to raise money for it? It could have been because the statue's creator, Auguste Bartholdi, was still a young artist, and no one in America really knew who he was. Was he really planning to deliver such a generous gift, or was he only in it for his own fame and fortune? Or worse, was he a scam artist trying to take people's money? Bartholdi gained the trust of Americans as progress was made on the statue in Paris. Still, raising money was a challenge. The granite circles near the base of the pedestal are a reminder of a failed attempt at fundraising. Each circle was meant to have a different state seal in exchange for funds from that state, but the funds never came through. Eventually Joseph Pulitzer, through his newspaper The World, headed a massive crowd funding campaign and raised over $100,000 for the pedestal. Photo courtesy of the Richard Morris Hunt Collection, Library of Congress. #statueofliberty #josephpulitzer #fundraising #libertyisland #findyourpark