LADY LIBERTY 30 YEARS AGO

“In New York harbor stands a lady, with her torch raised to the sky…” are the opening lyrics of the song, Statue of Liberty, by Neil Enloe, written in 1974. Eleven years later, in 1985, RoMan helped ensure that Lady Liberty’s torch would continue to be raised for generations to come. At that time, RoMan was approached by Nab-Fiebiger of New York City, the company contracted to do the restoration work on the Statue of Liberty. RoMan developed and manufactured two transformers used in Lors Machinery equipment to treat the 1,800 bars of stainless steel that were being used to strengthen the statue. The tempered steel was made into bands to anchor Lady Liberty’s 2,000 pounds of copper skin to her frame. The new bands were used in place of the worn out originals made of wrought iron. The restoration was completed and the Statue of Liberty was re-dedicated on July 4th, 1986, the date of its centennial.

How wonderful that Dietrich Roth, an immigrant to the United States, and one of the founders of RoMan, could be instrumental in helping to restore the Statue of Liberty—a symbol of Freedom and a welcoming beacon to immigrants for many generations. To this day, She still speaks to all of us with the words inscribed on her base—“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”