October 21, 2022
She is the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of freedom, inspiration and hope — but she is not in New York harbor. She is in small-town Missouri.
There are many Lady Liberty replicas throughout the country. The Statue of Liberty copy in downtown Concordia, Mo., is one of 200 statues across the nation in the “Strengthen the Arm of Liberty” campaign.
In 1949, Kansas City businessman J.P. Whitaker, who was the Scout commissioner of the Kansas City area, crafted a plan to put replicas of the Statue of Liberty across the country. He paid $3,500 to have an original mold made for the statues. However, they were not identical to the original — the smaller statues have a more youthful face, and the tablet position is different. Each was about 8½ feet tall and weighed nearly 300 pounds.
Local Scout troops purchased them and donated them to their cities and towns. For the next three years, the Boy Scouts of America troops delivered replicas to 39 states.
For Whitaker, it was about the statues serving as a call for all people to uphold freedom.
Copies of Lady Liberty are different with a more youthful face, like this one in Lafayette County, Mo.
During my travels, I’ve stopped and viewed many copies of the Statue of Liberty across Missouri and other states. But as I walked around this one in Lafayette County, I was struck by her view — not mine. She was looking directly at grain bins.
Her perspective reminded me that my freedom to live and work in rural America was built by those who were brave enough to see beyond the shores where they landed — those who had the strength and resolve to traverse over mountains and across plains to build cities and towns from the ground up. Farmers and ranchers planted and harvested products that would feed, clothe and fuel our nation.
While she may not be welcoming visitors to America, this little lady does offer visitors a glimpse of what makes this country one full of inspiration and hope — agriculture. You just need to look at it from her perspective.
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