Dorothy Seward, age 8, of Daytona Beach, Fla., for her question:

WHO FIRST HAD THE IDEA FOR THE STATUE OF LIBERTY?

A French historian named Edouard de Laboulaye first suggested a monument to symbolize liberty. His friend Frederic Auguste Bartholi designed the statue and Alexander Gustave Eiffel, who designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built the supporting framework.

Funds for the statue were raised both in France and the United States.

The people of France presented the Statue of Liberty to the United States in Paris on July 4, 1884 and it was shipped to the United States in 214 cases in 1885.

The statue was unveiled before representatives of both France and the United States and dedicated by President Grover Cleveland on October 28, 1886.

The statue became a national monument in 1924 and is now maintained by the National Park Service.