Answer:
About 14 million immigrants entered the United States through New York between 1886 and 1924. To them, seeing Liberty's Statue signified their arrival in the country of their hopes. It was not "enlightenment" as intended by her designers, but rather "welcome" to these nervous visitors that the Statue's raised torch suggested. The "Mother of Exiles," Liberty, became a symbol of hope for generations of immigrants as time passed.
