Liberty Weekend was a four-day celebration held to celebrate the 1984 restoration and the centenary of the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) in New York City. [1] It began on July 3, 1986 and ended on July 6.
Liberty Weekend was a four-day celebration held to celebrate the 1984 restoration and the centenary of the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) in New York City. [1] It began on July 3, 1986 and ended on July 6.
The Opening Ceremonies of Liberty Weekend were held on July 3, 1986 at Governors Island in New York Harbor. French President François Mitterrand was on hand to give his well wishes to the American people. Secretary of the Interior Donald Hodel, Executive Producer David L. Wolper, and the Chairman of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation Lee Iacocca joined to introduce the President of the United States at the time, Ronald Reagan. The Liberty Orchestra was conducted by John Williams premiering his composition, Liberty Fanfare featuring the Liberty Weekend herald trumpets. The Liberty Weekend Chorus was conducted by N. Brock McElheran, music professor from Crane School of Music, S.U.N.Y. Potsdam, Potsdam, N.Y. The chorus also featured alumni members of the Crane School of Music Chorus. Kenneth Mack Jr. sang the National Anthem. Gregory Peck, Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra also spoke.
Reagan spoke of the friendship between France and the United States with an emphasis on the workers conducting the restoration work. He then unveiled the Statue for the first time since its restoration. This was followed by musical performances by Neil Diamond (who sang "They're Coming to America"), Frank Sinatra (who sang "The House I Live In"), Jose Feliciano and Diane Schuur singing a duet ("The American Wedding Song"), as well as dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, among others. Ted Koppel of ABC News Nightline presented the Medal of Liberty to outstanding naturalized Americans.
Emil Mosbacher, organizer of Operation Sail, and Secretary of the Navy John Lehman spoke of the following day's events. Reagan spoke again, this time symbolically lighting the torch of the Statue of Liberty, by pressing a button shooting a laser from the podium to torch. This was done from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy. Finally, a fireworks display set to "The Stars and Stripes Forever" was enacted above the statue as well as the skyline of New York city.
Warren Burger, Chief Justice of the United States, swore in immigrants to the United States in a naturalization ceremony on Ellis Island.
The temperature in the harbor was about 40 °F (5 °C) that night with a sharp wind blowing across Governors Island.
On the morning of July 4, 1986 the battleships and sailing ships of old took part in a naval revue down the Hudson River, including the largest flotilla of tall ships to assemble in modern history. [2] Reagan viewed the ships from USS Iowa. [1] He described the ships as a personification of freedom and liberty:
Perhaps, indeed, these vessels embody our conception of liberty itself: to have before one no impediments, only open spaces; to chart one's own course and take the adventure of life as it comes; to be free as the wind – as free as the tall ships themselves. It's fitting, then, that this procession should take place in honor of Lady Liberty.
Participants in Operation Sail 1986:
Later, the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by John Williams conducted a concert of classic American music at Liberty State Park in New Jersey (the closest landmass to Liberty Island itself). It also featured musical performances from (in order) John Denver, Melissa Manchester, Clamma Dale with Simon Estes, Joel Grey, Whitney Houston, Johnny Cash, James Whitmore, and Barry Manilow. Also in attendance were notables such as Steven Spielberg, Amy Irving, Robert Dole, NYC Mayor Ed Koch, NY State Governor Mario Cuomo, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kissinger, Itzhak Perlman, Cardinal O'Connor, Don King, Pierre Salinger, June Carter Cash, Alan Shepard, Diahann Carroll, and Coretta Scott King.
This was followed by an address by Reagan aboard USS John F. Kennedy and a 30-minute fireworks display and concert, scored and conducted by Joe Raposo, the highlight of the night. It was the largest fireworks display in American history, and at the time the largest in the world. The display included 22,000 aerial fireworks, launched from 30 barges and other vantage points, in addition to 18,000 set pieces. It was co-produced by four family-owned fireworks firms, namely the Zambelli, Grucci, Santore and Sousa families. [3]
On July 5, 1986, First Lady Nancy Reagan re-opened the statue to the public accompanied by 100 French and American young singers: Paris Boys Choir & Harlem Boys Choir.
At 4:30 pm, a "Great Blimp Race" took place over the Hudson River with four airships racing against each other for charity on a 12-mile course from the George Washington Bridge down to Battery Park in Lower Manhattan. The race was filmed by a fifth airship, and two others circled the city. The race was won by the Fuji blimp in 15 minutes and 36 seconds. Resorts International came second, followed by McDonald's and Citibank. The winner received a two-foot long airship trophy from James Hoge, Daily News publisher, and the $25,000 Citibank Charity Challenge Cup fund went to the Boys' Clubs of America.
That night, a joint concert by the New York Philharmonic and the US Marine Band was held in Central Park conducted by Zubin Mehta and Col. John Bourgeois with special guests (in order) Plácido Domingo, Joseph Flummerfelt, Marilyn Horne, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Sherrill Milnes and Leona Mitchell. At that time, a record-breaking 800,000 people were reported to have attended (largest audience in the world until 1994, and still the largest ever in the US and third largest ever recorded worldwide).
The closing ceremonies took place at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. The closing ceremonies featured a tribute to sports and pop culture, with the following performers and speakers (in order): Fabian Forte, Frankie Avalon, Buddy DeFranco, Charlton Heston, Waylon Jennings, Gene Kelly, Patti LaBelle, Gerry Mulligan, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, The Pointer Sisters, Manhattan Transfer, The Golden Boys of Bandstand, Shirley MacLaine, and Liza Minnelli.
The entire event was broadcast on ABC with Peter Jennings and Barbara Walters as commentators. [2] ABC News had paid $10 million for broadcasting rights. CBS also broadcast parts of the event, including Operation Sail 1986. Christian recording artist Sandi Patty recorded a new version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" which was played as part of the broadcast.
In his book Even This I Get To Experience, television personality Norman Lear stated that he was the one who produced the four-day special, which he described as "my parade" of "tall ships." [4] Lear also stated that he used the Israeli ship, The Galaxy, which set sail during the event, to host a private party celebrating his upcoming marriage to his fiancée Lyn and that he in part made the special so it was to coincide with this party as well. [4]
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper statue, a gift to the United States from the people of France, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.
An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air to achieve the lift needed to stay airborne.
Richmond Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 8,944 at the 2020 census.
USS America (CVA/CV-66) was one of three Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers built for the United States Navy in the 1960s. Commissioned in 1965, she spent most of her career in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, but did make three Pacific deployments serving in the Vietnam War. She also served in the Persian Gulf War's operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
Liberty State Park (LSP) is a park in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Upper New York Bay in Jersey City opposite Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The park opened in 1976 to coincide with bicentennial celebrations and is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. Liberty State Park covers 1,212 acres (490 ha).
Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States of America.
The K-class blimp was a class of blimps built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio for the United States Navy. These blimps were powered by two Pratt & Whitney Wasp nine-cylinder radial air-cooled engines, each mounted on twin-strut outriggers, one per side of the control car that hung under the envelope. Before and during World War II, 134 K-class blimps were built and configured for patrol and anti-submarine warfare operations, and were extensively used in the Navy’s anti-submarine efforts in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean areas.
The G-Class Blimps were a series of non-rigid airships (blimps) used by the United States Navy. In 1935, instead of developing a new design airship, the Navy purchased the Goodyear Blimp Defender for use as a trainer and utility airship assigning it the designator G-1. Defender was built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio and was the largest blimp in the company’s fleet of airships that were used for advertising and as passenger airships. Goodyear built additional G-class airships for the Navy during World War II to support training needs.
The L-class blimps were training airships operated by the United States Navy during World War II. In the mid-1930s, the Goodyear Aircraft Company built a family of small non-rigid airships that the company used for advertising the Goodyear name. In 1937 the United States Navy awarded a contract for two different airships, K-class blimp designated K-2 and a smaller blimp based upon Goodyear's smaller commercial model airship used for advertising and passenger carrying. The smaller blimp was designated by the Navy as L-1. It was delivered in April 1938 and operated from the Navy's lighter-than-air facility at Lakehurst, New Jersey. In the meantime, the Navy ordered two more L-Class blimps, the L-2 and L-3, on September 25, 1940. These were delivered in 1941. L-2 was lost in a nighttime mid-air collision with the G-1 on June 8, 1942.
A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to hold fleet reviews. Fleet reviews may also include participants and warships from multiple navies.
Liberty Fanfare is a composition for orchestra by John Williams. Written in 1986, the piece was commissioned to celebrate the Centennial of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, that year. However, it was actually premiered a month beforehand, on June 4, when Williams conducted the Boston Pops. The entire piece is approximately five minutes in length. It uses both the brass section for the main themes and the strings for providing a recurring, melodious motif. The rhythm is also repeated several times throughout the piece.
Fireworks by Grucci is an American fireworks company headquartered in Bellport on New York's Long Island. It has been a family-run business since 1850. The company's main fireworks office and operations are in Bellport, New York, with a manufacturing and government work factory in Radford, Virginia.
Pyro Spectaculars is an American pyrotechnics and fireworks company with its primary offices in Rialto, California. They are one of the largest fireworks companies in the world today. Jim Souza is the President and CEO of the company, which was founded in 1979 by his father, Bob Souza. The company shoots hundreds of shows each year in multiple countries, including the largest fireworks show in the United States each year. The company also conducts a series of pyrotechnics classes and seminars to train licensed pyrotechnicians.
The Medal of Liberty was awarded in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan as part of the festivities commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. The awarding of this medal took place only once, as it was linked to a specific event. No other Medals of Liberty have been awarded since Liberty Weekend 1986, although it is possible more may be awarded on future occasions.
The Hudson–Fulton Celebration from September 25 to October 9, 1909 in New York and New Jersey was an elaborate commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the Hudson River and the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton's first successful commercial application of the paddle steamer. The maritime achievements of Hudson and Fulton foreshadowed the importance of the river to New York's progress and identity. Organizers used the event not only to display the success of the two men, but also the status of New York City as a world city and the achievements of its citizens.
The first inauguration of Ronald Reagan as the 40th president of the United States was held on Tuesday, January 20, 1981, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the first inauguration to be held on the building's west side. This was the 49th inauguration and marked the commencement of Ronald Reagan's and George H. W. Bush's first term as president and vice president, respectively. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger administered the presidential oath of office to Reagan, who placed his hand upon a family Bible given to him by his mother, open to 2 Chronicles 7:14. Associate Justice Potter Stewart administered the vice presidential oath to Bush.
The Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) is a United States 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to honor and preserve cultural diversity and to foster tolerance, respect and understanding among ethnic groups. The EIHS was founded in 1984 as the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO) and adopted its current name in 2017. The EIHS awards the "Ellis Island Medal of Honor" to naturalized or native-born American citizens "who preserve and celebrate the history, traditions and values of their [ethnic heritage] while exemplifying the values of the American way of life".
Garden State Fireworks is a pyrotechnics company based in the Millington section of Long Hill Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. It was founded in 1890 and has been owned by the same family for four generations. It is one of the largest fireworks manufacturers in the United States.
The opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games took place on the afternoon of Saturday, July 28, in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal ceremonial opening of this international sporting event with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation's culture. The 1984 Games were formally opened by President of the United States Ronald Reagan. The event was conducted in front of 92,516 attendants. The ceremony was a $5 million production, titled Music of America.
The closing ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California on Sunday, August 12, 1984, at 20:00 PDT.
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