Iacocca and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation

Lehigh University Catalog Record: https://asa.lib.lehigh.edu/asa/Record/10660482

A version of this text has been digitized and is available through Hathitrust.

Digitized Version

Lee A. Iacocca (1924-2019).
[Speech] Annunzio Committee Hearing, February 20, 1985.

This text has been digitized and is available through the Lehigh Preserve digital repository.

Lee A. Iacocca (1924-2019).
 [Speech] Coin Ceremony, October 18, 1985.

This text has been digitized and is available through the Lehigh Preserve digital repository.

Lee A. Iacocca (1924-2019). [Speech] Liberty Weekend, July 3-6, 1986.

This text has been digitized and is available through the Lehigh Preserve digital repository.

Statue of Liberty Silver Dollar; Statue of Liberty Half Dollar.

President Ronald Reagan appointed Lee Iacocca, a successful and popular businessman, Chrysler C.E.O., and Lehigh alumnus, to lead the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation in 1982. The Foundation was charged with raising funds for Lady Liberty’s restoration. Iacocca used his business connections in an effort to privately fund the entire project.

Part of this fundraising effort was the sale of commemorative coins honoring the centennial of the statue’s construction. Iacocca spoke on behalf of the Foundation to a Congressional subcommittee, with Public Law 99-61 being signed in July 1985. Three coins were struck at a ceremony on October 18, 1985. Iacocca’s personal speech copies as well as the House Bill documenting the subcommittee meeting are displayed here, along with two of the three commemorative coins produced. The silver dollar features the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on one side with the torch and an excerpt of Emma Lazarus’ “New Colossus” poem on the reverse. The silver half dollar features the side profile of the statue on one side and a family of immigrants arriving in America on the reverse.

The statue’s reopening celebration took place on “Liberty Weekend” from July 3 to 6, 1986. Iacocca was closely involved in the fanfare and introduced President Reagan at the weekend’s opening ceremony. Prior to the grand reopening, which included an orchestral work written by John Williams, Iacocca also arranged for the creation of the “The Lady Remembers” musical suite by Broadway composer Rich Adler. A vinyl record of this music performed by the Detroit Symphony is on display.