On a crisp autumn afternoon in 1883, New York's cultural elite gathered at the Academy of Design to raise funds for the pedestal of a statue destined to stand in New York Harbor. This monument, a gift to the U.S. from France, had been given to commemorate the country's centennial and the end of slavery. It would become known to the world as the Statue of Liberty.

For the event, organizers turned to Emma Lazarus, an accomplished young poet and writer, asking her to contribute a sonnet. Emma responded with “The New Colossus,” a poem that captured a broader vision:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,  

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;  

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand  

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame  

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name  

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand  

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command  

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.  

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she  

With silent lips. "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!"

At the time, Emma's 14-line sonnet was but a small contribution to an event that raised $15,000 (about $467k today). Few people realized the lasting impact it would have, and the sonnet was largely forgotten about.

Yet, it would become one of the most enduring contributions from that day. In 1903, the poem was engraved onto the Statue of Liberty pedestal, embodying the monument's new spirit next to Ellis Island, which had become the entry point for millions of immigrants into the U.S.

Emma, however, never got to see her sonnet displayed. She died in 1887 at the age of 38, likely from what is now believed to have been Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

—

To continue reading this snapshot biography of Emma: