Statement About the Dedication of the American Museum of Immigration

SPEAKING about the nature of our country, President Eisenhower once said that America "is best described by one word, freedom."

It is especially appropriate that we recall that description as we dedicate the American Museum of Immigration, at the base of this great national monument.

The idea for this museum was born in 1954, when a group of citizens met with President Eisenhower to suggest a permanent memorial to the millions of immigrants who came to these shores in search of freedom.

Now, 18 years later, the museum is a reality. And for one who served with President Eisenhower, as I did, this occasion has a double meaning. We are witnessing today the completion of something that meant a great deal to a great American, President Eisenhower. And we are also paying tribute to millions of other American heroes--many of whose names may be forgotten but whose vision and sacrifice have added so much to our American heritage.

In dedicating this museum, we mark the fact that ours is a nation of many nations, that, uniquely among all the nations of the world, ours draws its people from every continent, from every corner of the world, and what we have and what we are today is the result of what they brought to these shores.

So we dedicate this museum, not to a dead chapter of our history, but to a living ideal. The displays inside this building will remind us and our descendants of where many of our people came from. Every facet of American life today is filled with examples of what they did when they got here, of what they added to America, and of how they strengthened and enriched all of our lives, and continue to do so today.

The skyscrapers that dot the skyline of New York City, the railroads that connect the continent, the industrial might of modern America--all of these are the work of immigrants and of the descendants of immigrants. All of these are monuments to the strong hearts and hands of men and women from all nations, all races, and all religions who came here and became proud Americans. The walls of this museum, even if they were a hundred times this size, could not begin to house the full story of their contributions--yet it is a story that must and shall be told, especially now, as we complete our second century as a nation and prepare to celebrate our Bicentennial.

America has often been called a melting pot, perhaps because it has forged the cultures and traditions of many lands into a strong new alloy--an American alloy. But let us never forget that one of the finest things about our country is that it does not force its people into a narrow mold of conformity. America is a rich mosaic of many cultures and traditions, strong in its diversity. Each new immigrant has added another piece to the mosaic of American life--a fresh perspective and a fresh appreciation of what it means to be an American.

Edouard de Laboulaye, the French patriot who inspired the idea for the Statue of Liberty and who persuaded the sculptor Bartholdi to create it, looked upon the monument not only as a symbol of the love for freedom shared by the French and American people but as a monument to the spirit of freedom itself--a spirit that beats in the hearts of people everywhere.

The words he used to describe the Statue of Liberty should also serve to describe this museum we dedicate today: "... a symbol that braves the storms of time. It will stand unshaken in the midst of the winds that roar about its head and the waves that shatter at its feet."

The American ideal has also braved the storms of time. And it always will, as long as we keep alive the spark of freedom, ambition, opportunity, and self-respect, as long as we keep alive the faith and the commitment that transformed the poor, the oppressed, and the downtrodden of the earth into proud, free citizens of the United States.