Each year about 4.5 million people shuffle off the ferries that service Liberty Island to see up close the famous torch-wielding Roman goddess towering above them.

But security concerns stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks led the National Park Service to restrict the number of people who could go inside the statue’s massive stone pedestal, and up to the crown. The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation wanted to offer something more for visitors who found the outdoor view less than satisfying: a stand-alone museum on the island that would welcome everyone who wanted to hear the story behind Lady Liberty.

On Thursday, the Statue of Liberty Museum opens on the island, offering details about how French workers constructed their 150-foot-tall gift to America, as well as how the statue became a symbol of freedom across the world.

Recognizing the need to focus on more than just the vague and often dubious ideal of American “liberty,” the museum’s designers highlight the doubts of black Americans and women who saw their personal liberties compromised on a daily basis in the 1880s, when the statue opened. They also spotlight a bit of history that is often forgotten: that the French creators intended the statue as a commemoration of the abolition of slavery in the United States.