“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” If you like this article, then please consider sharing it and leaving a comment below. She never knew that her words, inspired by refugees, welcomed generations of new immigrants seeking freedom in America. In 1903, words from Emma’s “The New Colossus” were inscribed on a plague placed in the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal. President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty on October 28, 1886. The pedestal was built and the statue reassembled. Most of the contributions were less than $1.00. To help with the cause, he published Emma’s poem in his newspaper. Joseph Pulitzer, the publisher of The New York World, asked people around the country to contribute money to build the pedestal. She decided to write the poem and called it “The New Colossus.” The Statue of Liberty would welcome them to their new home. It seemed to her that the statue would light the way for immigrants entering New York Harbor. Harrison asked Emma to think about the Russian Jewish refugees she had been helping. Harrison, “A poem written to order would be flat.” Ms. Not only was the auction a week away, but as she told a pedestal committee member, Ms. But an economic depression made fundraising difficult.Īt first, Emma declined the invitation to write a sonnet. Now Americans raised money to pay for the pedestal to support it. The people of France paid for the statue. The statue, a gift from France, sat disassembled in crates on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor. The committee asked her to write a sonnet to be auctioned to help raise money for the pedestal. In 1883, a committee invited Emma to participate in a fundraising campaign to provide a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. She wrote about their plight hoping they would be accepted into American society. Emma brought them clothing and food, set up English classes, and a trade school. The refugees lived in poor conditions on Ward’s Island in New York Harbor.
Emma continued to write and publish books of poetry.Įmma also dedicated herself to helping Russian Jewish refugees escaping persecution in their homeland. She and Emerson worked together as student and mentor. Emma met and then wrote to one of America’s best known poets, Ralph Waldo Emerson, when she was nineteen. Her father, recognizing her talent, published her first book of poems, Poems and translations by Emma Lazarus, written between the ages of Fourteen and Seventeen. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” Poet Emma Lazarus wrote these famous words as part of a sonnet for an auction.Īs a girl, Emma wrote poetry and translated poems from German and French into English.
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