The Secret Life of Lady Liberty

The goddess origins of the Statue of Liberty and her connections with the founding and the future of America • Examines Lady Liberty's ties to Native American spiritual traditions, the Earth Mother, Roman goddesses, Black Madonnas, and Mary Magdalene • Reveals the sharp contrast between depicting "liberty" as a female and the reality of women and other suppressed classes even today • Explains how this Goddess of the New World inspires all people toward equality, compassion, peace-keeping, and environmental stewardship Uncovering the forgotten lineage of the Statue of Liberty, Bob Hieronimus and Laura Cortner explain how she is based on a female symbol representing America on the earliest maps of the continent in the form of a Native American "Queen." The image of a woman symbolizing independence was embraced by the American revolutionaries to rally the populace against the King, filling the role of "Founding Mother" and protector of the fledgling republic. Incorporating Libertas, the Roman goddess of freed slaves, with Minerva, Demeter, Justice, and the Indian Princess, Lady Liberty is seen all over the nation's capital, and on the seals and flags of many states. Showing how a new appreciation for the Statue of Liberty as the American goddess can serve as a unifying inspiration for activism, the authors explore how this Lady Liberty is a personification of America and its destiny. They examine multiple traditions that influenced her symbolism, from the Neolithic Earth Mother, to Mary Magdalene, Columbia, and Joan of Arc, while revealing the sharp contrast between depicting "liberty" as a female and the reality of women and other suppressed classes throughout history. Their study of "Liberty Enlightening the World" led them to conclude that the empowerment of contemporary women is essential for achieving sustainable liberty for all. Sounding the call for this "Goddess of the New World" to inspire us all toward peacekeeping, nurturing, compassion, and environmental stewardship, the authors explain how the Statue of Liberty serves as the conscience of our nation and is a symbol of both the myths that unite us and the diversity that strengthens us.

Foreword By J. Zohara Meyerhoff Hieronimus, D.H.L. Acknowledgments 1 What Do We Mean by "The Secret Life of Lady Liberty"? 2 Where Are Your Women? 3 What the Statue of Liberty Learned from the Indian Princess 4 Goddesses Were Everywhere 5 Colossal Statuary Consists of More than Size A Statue of Liberty Time Line 6 Behind the Statue of Liberty Is Her Earth-Mother Indian Queen 7 How the Statue of Liberty Became the Whore of Babylon 8 The Black Statue of Liberty 9 The Statue of Liberty and the Secrets of Mary 10 The Liberty to Choose What to Believe 11 Armed Liberty Freedom Acquired through Bloodshed 12 Lady Liberty and Her Sisters We Are One 13 A Delightful Inconsistency Feminists and Labor Activists on the Statue 14 The Statue of Liberty as a Symbol for the Future Appendix Guest Biographies The Lady Liberty Radio Interview Series Appendix 2 Brief Biographies of a Few Female Leaders We Should Have Learned about in School Notes Bibliography Index About the Authors