Emma Lazarus 1849–1887

Name ______Class ______Date ______Life at the Turn of the 20th Century Biography

WHY SHE MADE HISTORY Poet and scholar Emma Lazarus was one of the first successful Jewish American authors. She wrote the poem engraved at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

As you read the biography below, think about how Emma Lazarus’s cultural heritage

influenced her life and writing.

Bettmann/CORBIS © From 1880 to 1910, the face of America changed as some 18 million people immigrated to America from Europe and Asia. In 1885 a statue, 151 feet tall, was placed in New York Harbor to greet these newcomers. The statue, titled Liberty Enlightening the World, was a gift from France. Lady Liberty still stands in the harbor as a symbol of freedom and opportunity. The famous lines inscribed at the base of the statue were written by Emma Lazarus. Emma Lazarus was born in New York City in 1849. Her ancestors were among the first Jewish settlers to come to America. Her heritage made Lazarus part of a distinct Jewish upper class. Lazarus’s father was a wealthy sugar merchant, and the family lived in a fashionable neighborhood in New York City. Lazarus was educated at home. She studied the classics of ancient Greece and Rome as well as the writers of her time. Her father recognized young Emma’s talent as a writer and encouraged her work. Lazarus was just 17 when she privately published her first book, titled Poems and Translations Written Between the Ages of Fourteen and Seventeen. In 1868 Lazarus sent a copy of her first book to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson recognized her talent and became a trusted mentor and friend. Lazarus published her second book in 1871 and received excellent reviews. A critic at the Illustrated London News wrote that “Miss Lazarus must be hailed by impartial literary criticism as a poet of rare original power.” Throughout the 1870s, Lazarus published many poems in popular magazines. She also wrote a novel and a drama. In 1881 her translations of poems by German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine received high praise. As a member of the upper class, Lazarus also contributed to the community. She worked with groups that helped immigrants adjust to their new lives in America, and helped establish a school, the Hebrew Technical Institute for Vocational Training.

Through the years, Lazarus’s interest in Jewish tradition grew. As a Jew she had experienced discrimination, and she was strongly influenced by the violent anti-Semitism that swept through Eastern Europe in the 1880s. Lazarus wrote as a spokesperson for the American Jewish community. She sought to expose prejudice and false stereotypes against Jews around the world. She also argued for the creation of a Jewish homeland. In 1883, Lazarus wrote a poem titled “The New Colossus” for an auction to raise money for the base of the Statue of Liberty. The poem has 14 lines, but these closing lines are quoted most often. 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-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

In 1887 Lazarus died of cancer at the age of 38. Sixteen years after her death, the words of her poem “The New Colossus” were engraved on a plaque and placed in the base of the Statue of Liberty as a memorial.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN? 1. Recall Why did Emma Lazarus write “The New Colossus”?

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______2. Infer Based on her poem “The New Colossus” and her life, how do you think Emma Lazarus felt about immigrants?

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ACTIVITY Select several poems written by Emma Lazarus. Read the poems as a class and discuss these questions. What common themes do you find in the poems? What do they reveal to you about Lazarus and the times in which she lived?