For the first time in over a century, someone besides National Park Service staff has stood at the very top of the Statue of Liberty's torch - and it happened on live television.
ABC "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir climbed through Lady Liberty's right arm and up a narrow 40-foot ladder to reach the torch platform, more than 300 feet above New York Harbor, as part of ABC's 24-hour "Disney Celebrates America" special marking the nation's 250th birthday. The torch has been closed to public access since 1916. When Muir asked the park ranger guiding him how many people are normally allowed up there, the answer was simple: "Nobody."
Once at the top, Muir described being struck less by the height than by what the statue has meant for generations of newcomers. "You immediately think of the people who came into the harbor on those ships and thought, 'I'm getting a chance at a new life,'" he said. A gift from France in 1886, the statue welcomed more than 12 million immigrants through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954 - many of them families fleeing hardship and persecution in search of freedom, including religious freedom, on American soil.
That thread of welcome and hope has long carried a spiritual weight beyond politics - a reminder that the freedom this country celebrates each July 4th includes the freedom to worship without fear, something generations of immigrants risked everything to find.
"Disney Celebrates America" airs across ABC, Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, National Geographic, FX, Freeform, and ABC News Live through July 4th.
