HIST 489 (Fall 2007)

Mark is a fifth-year double majoring in History and English Ed. His hometown is Bowman, ND--way out in the SW corner of the state. This is his last semester before student teaching. He hopes that by this time in 2008 he will be teaching and coaching at the high school level.


Prospectus for Paper

Mark's topic is the Statue of Liberty replica on the Red River Bridge. The statue was originally created in the 1950s and put in an open area at Island Park. In 1971, the arm and torch dissapeared from the statue. The Park Board decided to repair the statue when the original Statue of Liberty was renovated for its 100-year anniversary in 1986. Mark does not yet know why the statue was originally built and how it fell into a state of disrepair, or what the current public use/awareness of the statue is. The primary sources Mark expects to use include newspaper archives, meeting minutes from the Park Board and Lions club, as well as personal interviews. Mark's tentative hypothesis is that the statue is largely ignored by the public, except during larger national movements inolving similar projects or the Statue of Liberty itself.

Required Links

• Research Log

• Bibliography

• Book Review

Additional Links

• Outline
  

Abstract of Paper

The Statue of Liberty replica in Fargo has continually reflected those same values and ideas associated with the original monument in New York. The replica’s meaning, and probably more so its importance, has been contextualized by current events, beliefs, and attitudes. Initially, it stood for liberty in the face of communism; it underwent a period of disrepair as American national identity and values floundered; and it represented freedom at its rededication coinciding with the original statue’s centennial.