Chip Chick
One of the most iconic historical landmarks in the United States is the Statue of Liberty in New York. It’s a powerful symbol of freedom and is visited by thousands yearly.
Inscribed on the plaque at the pedestal of Lady Liberty is a poem titled “The New Colossus,” which encapsulates the statue’s purpose and has captured the hearts of many. But do you know the story of who wrote this famous poem?
It was Emma Lazarus, a writer, and activist who wrote powerful works and vocally spoke out against anti-semitism in the United States.
Emma was born in New York City in 1849. She was one of seven children born into a wealthy Jewish family. Her father was a successful merchant and highly valued his children’s education, so Emma excelled in learning from her private tutors.
She had great writing skills early on, and by the time she was a teenager, she had written enough poetry to write books of poems, which her father would help her publish and circulate.
Emma was a big fan of writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, who became her mentor after she sent him a book of poems. She eventually wrote another book of poetry, Admetus and Other Poems, and included one dedicated to him, titled “To My Friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson” in 1871.
She received much critical acclaim for her poetry books and, by the 1880s, turned towards writing more about her life as a Jewish woman and her heritage. She started writing about the struggles of Jewish Americans as she grew angrier over the anti-semitism in the United States and the mistreatment of Jewish immigrants in New York City.
Emma became an activist and continued writing about these subjects and speaking out about them in public, making herself seen as a Jewish American poet and working to help refugees through organizations like the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
She helped establish the Hebrew Technical Institute in New York to help Jewish immigrants find employment and formed the Society for the Improvement and Colonization of East European Jews in 1883.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
