Emma Lazarus and the Statue of Liberty

A descendent of Jewish immigrants, Emma Lazarus was a poet. In 1883 she wrote her poem, The New Colossus to support a monetary appeal to build a pedestal for the statue, Liberty Enlightening the World. France sent the statue, but the U.S. had to build the pedestal. Now known as the Statue of Liberty, Emma’s words are engraved at the base of the statue, and on the psyche of 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.