 As part of Joseph Pulitzer's fundraising campaign for the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty; $100,000 was raised in 6 months - considered by many to be the 'first Kickstarter' campaign was a poem by Emma Lazarus The 'New Colossus'  

In 1885 Joseph Pulitzer - the renowned publisher after whom the Pulitzer Prize is named - launched an unusual fundraising campaign in his newspaper, The New York World. He was soliciting readers' donations to pay for a plinth for the Statue of Liberty.     

After the Statue of Liberty was made at the expense of the French government as a diplomatic gift to the US, the committee overseeing the project could not raise enough money to have it installed.&amp;nbsp; 

 Advertisement for statuettes by the American Committee of the Statue of Liberty, to raise funds for completion of the Statue of Liberty. 1885 July  

For example, his newspaper published stories about the drive and created an enticing narrative for readers.     

There was even some money left over far a gift for the sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, pictured at right.   

The 'New Colossus' fundraising