Emma Lazarus was born in New York City in 1849. Her family was Sephardic Jewish Americans who became quite wealthy doing sugar refining. Emma was a seventh-generation American of immigrants of Portuguese heritage.
At an early age, Emma began writing poetry. She had her first book of poems published when she was 17. She was classically educated and a member of the elite society in New York City.
She was mentored by Ralph Waldo Emerson and connected to many of the literary figures of the time. In addition to poetry, she also wrote novels and play scripts.
She became an advocate for immigrants coming to America, especially Russian Jews who were being persecuted. She helped establish a training facility for immigrants to support their assimilation into America.
In 1886, the French gave America a statue to be erected in the harbor of New York City. The Statue came without a base. To erect the statue, a base was needed. To help pay for the base, Emma wrote a poem to be auctioned. The poem was called The New Colossus.
Money was raised and Emma’s poem became largely forgotten. In 1901, a friend of Emma rediscovered the poem. She became an advocate for the poem to be placed at the base of the Statue of Liberty. The last lines of that poem are perhaps one of the most well-known lines of poetry in America
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Hidden heroes are often little known while they are alive. For Emma, she was known in literary circles and by those fighting for immigrant rights. But the public at large did not know of her. That is still true today. But there are few people who don’t know the five lines of her poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty. She created an aspiration for the greatness of America.
* * *
“Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge.”–Ken Cuccinelli (Acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director during the Trump administration as a suggested change to Emma Lazarus’ poem)