By Wade Marbaugh
When you were a child and saw photos of the Statue of Liberty, you may not have noticed broken shackles lying at her feet. The tendency is to focus on the stoic face, crown, torch, and tablet.
And of course, the poem at the base of the statue is recognized by most Americans: “Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to be free,/ The wretched refuse of your teeming shore./ Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me./ I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Many even know the poet’s name – Emma Lazarus.
The message you most likely took when your elementary school teacher presented it was that the statue is a tribute to America’s open door to immigrants from other countries.
But something wasn’t mentioned back then, that is to this day little known about this great American icon. In the original design by French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, Lady Liberty held the shackles in her left hand. That was because the Statue originally was intended to commemorate the abolition of slavery through the Union’s victory in the recently ended Civil War, in addition to being a gift from France to honor the long friendship between the two nations. However, in the course of the Statue’s long road to completion during and after Reconstruction, the chains were moved to her feet and a tablet replaced them in her hand.
Local actor and storyteller and longtime Lake Claire neighbor Barry Stewart Mann will reveal this controversial history with fellow actress/storyteller Deborah Strahorn in a theatrical storytelling performance, The Strange Case of Lady Liberty, on Feb. 28 at the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta.
Sponsored by First Existentialist, marking the final day of Black History Month, the piece centers around an investigation by a hard-boiled 1940’s style detective (Mann) helping a mysterious woman search for her true identity. That woman – of course, Lady Liberty herself – is played by Strahorn, who is African American.
Mann and Strahorn embody numerous characters, both historical and contemporary, and the performance includes a mixture of dramatization, personal narrative, folklore, humor and historical images, as well as some surprises along the way. “Lady Liberty” premiered in November in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, under a development grant from the Speak Story series, to enthusiastic response.
Mann says that in composing the piece, he intended to bring this little-known aspect of the history to life. “When I read about the original inspiration, in Clint Smith’s How the Word is Passed, I was amazed. I’d never heard about it.” Mann has performed in plays across the city, including several productions at Horizon Theatre in Little Five Points. Strahorn noted, “I never thought this statue had anything to do with my or my family. My ancestors had crossed the ocean long before it was put up.” Strahorn has been a stalwart of the Atlanta storytelling scene, and is a regular teller at the West End’s historic Wren’s Nest.
The First Existentialist Congregation is located at 470 Candler Park Dr. in Atlanta. Doors will open at 7 pm on February 28 and the performance will begin at 7:30. There will be time for questions and discussion after the show. Admission is ‘pay-what-you-can’ at the door, with a suggested donation of $10 to $20. Proceeds will be split between First E and the Lady Liberty performance project. For more information, call 404-484-9446.