Freedom Forged by the Hands of a Slave

Most people recognize the Statue pictured above, but few know the man who forged it. The Statue of Freedom sits atop the United States Capitol Building as a symbol of the struggles that made The United States of America the greatest country on earth. What most people don't know is that this statue is possible due to the work of a South Carolina slave named Phillip Reid. When the plaster model for the statue arrived from Rome, it came in five pieces and was assembled for passers by to admire. When the bronze statue was to be forged from the plaster model, the workers who put the five pieces together were nowhere to be found. Phillip Reid figured out how to take the statue apart and then worked 7 days a week for 33 consecutive weeks to forge the actual statue in bronze. When the statue was hoisted atop the Capitol Dome in December of 1862, Phillip Reid witnessed it as a free man, thanks in part to an act of Congress earlier that year that freed the District of Columbia's 3100 slaves. Freedom forged by a slave.