Heritage Documentation Programs Documents Statue of Liberty National Monument

Lysanne Guerrios-Morales (Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico / Aias ArqPoli) summer architect with the Heritage Documentation Programs, NPS, scans the massive stone walls of Fort Wood, upon which the Statue of Liberty National Monument stands.

NPS Photo

In June 2019, Heritage Documentation Programs staff led a team of NCPE interns on an intensive, ten-day site visit to document the Statue of Liberty as part of HDP’s annual summer internship program. Once on site, the architects laser scanned the interior of the pedestal and Statue from bottom to top, collecting terabytes of data. Meanwhile, the historians combed through primary source documents, both at the park’s headquarters on Ellis Island and at the National Archives’ branch in Battery Park.

The exterior and parts of the interior of the Statue of Liberty were originally scanned in 2007 by Texas Tech University in partnership with HDP. Advancements in technology over the last decade have made it possible to return to the Statue and improve this documentation. The field team approached the project using a trio of lighter and faster scanners, in combination with high-resolution digital photogrammetry and total station control. With this equipment, the team was able to collect interior data of the entire structure, as well as recapture exterior data at a much higher resolution and accuracy than previously achieved. Now, for the first time, HDP will be able to assemble a complete three-dimensional model – inside and out, ground floor to torch – of the statue, its pedestal, and Fort Wood.

The Documentation Team:

Project Leaders: Paul Davidson (HABS Architect) and Lisa Davidson (HABS Historian)

NCPE Interns: Lysanne Guerrios Morales and Christian Guzman Velez (Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, Madeline Webster (American Studies PhD student Boston University)

HDP Architects: Daniel De Sousa (HABS), Dana Lockett (HAER), Ryan Pierce (HALS)

LEARN MORE:

• See more photographs of the team on the Heritage Documentation Programs Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HeritageDocumentationPrograms/
• Visit the Heritage Documentation Programs website at https://www.nps.gov/hdp/
• Search the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection in The Library of Congress at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/
• See HABS/HAER/HALS documentation of the Statue of Liberty at https://go.usa.gov/xy8b9

Ryan Pierce uses a DSLR camera to capture a 360-degree HDR panorama. The pano-photos are applied to the laser scan data to give them true-to-life color.

NPS Photo