The New Colossus

The socially conscious writer Emma Lazarus grew up in an established Sephardic family in New York. Lazarus’s eloquent essays, emotive poetry, and insightful translations—particularly of the works of Heinrich Heine—garnered her early respect and acclaim. She was a fervent activist against antisemitism and a champion for Jewish immigrants, volunteering and supporting social services. Her efforts reflected her proto-Zionist views advocating Jewish cultural rebirth and settlement in Palestine. The words she is perhaps most remembered by, which encapsulate her views on the importance of immigrant rights and freedom from persecution, were added to the base of the Statue of Liberty in 1903, sixteen years after her death at the age of thirty-eight.