1. A Symbol of Welcome
for Thousands
http://recuerdosclio.blogspot.com/
The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus
Exhibition Designer: Kelsey DePreta
2. Emma Lazarus
Emma was born into a Her father, a wealthy
wealthy family in 1849 and sugar refiner, was
was one of seven children enthusiastic about
and she grew up around integrating his family with
Union Square in New York. the Christian society.
The Lazarus family was able Emma was exposed to
to trace their ancestry to a subtle anti-Semitism: she
pioneer group of Sephardic felt that others were nice
Jews; a group of America’s to her face but held
first settlers. http://thefeministguide.com/2011/12/emma
judgment in private.
-lazarus-residence/
3. Lazarus as a literary figure
• Emma had a lot of pride in
her heritage and “often
wrote about the medieval
scholars and poets of her
ancestors’ land (Jewish
Women’s Archive).”
• She confided in authors
such as Ralph Waldo
Emerson and Heinrich Sephardic Jews’ Immigration Routes
http://library.northeastern.edu/news-events/exhibits/emma-lazarus-voice-
Heine.
of-liberty-voice-of-conscience
4. Ralph Waldo Emerson (below)
was an American poet whose
themes include morality,
Christianity, and power
(Goodman).
http://www.marxists.org/archive/m
arx/works/1846/letters/index.htm
Heine (above) was a German Jewish
poet whose works varied from romantic
to excessively political and satirical and
Emma identified with him.
"No enthusiast for the Hebrew
faith,...he was none the less eager to
proclaim himself an enthusiast for the
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/refe
rights of the Jews and their civil
rence/timestopics/people/e/ralph_w
aldo_emerson/index.html equality.“ (4)
5. American Immigrants in the 1800’s
• There was a large • In 1845 and 1846 there was
population growth in Britain a potato famine which
and an agricultural resulted in starvation and
depression which resulted death for people in Ireland.
in many leaving, some By the end of 1845 nearly a
coming to North America. quarter of the Irish
• Some English people population had immigrated
to the United States.
continued to work in
agriculture while others http://pested.ifas.
found work with their
ufl.edu/newsletter
s/august07/Pestic
ide_Potpourri.htm
technological skills.
6. American Immigrants in the 1800’s
• Many immigrants came
• A large wave of immigrants
from Germany. “most were
impoverished Germans who also came from France.
had lost confidence in its Many were political
government's ability to refugees from a failed
solve the country's revolution.
economic problems. Others
left because they feared • In the late 19th century many
constant political turmoil in Russians began to
Germany (Immigration immigrate due to pogroms.
1800-1900).”
7. Russian Pogroms in the 1800’s
• Anti-Jewish riots were breaking out in Russia following Czar
Alexander II’s assassination. These riots would come to be
known as pogroms.
• These pogroms made the Jews of Russia feel unsafe and
insecure.
• The pogroms caused many Jews to embrace Marxist
socialism and Zionism.
• Jews felt that “until the Jews had a homeland of their own
they would function as a pariah people subject to whatever
hostility and ill will others chose to inflict on them (Diner
90).”
8. A French Statue
• The Statue of Liberty was a
project undergone by the
French in order to show their
respect for American
Democracy.
• A prominent French man, Rene
Lefebvre di Laboulaye, held a
dinner party and offered the
idea of donating a monument,
“a token of their common
bond” with Americans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_Ren
%C3%A9_de_Laboulaye
9. Creating the Statue
• Attending this party was a
sculptor, Fredrick Auguste
Bartholdi, who was inspired
and put this idea to work.
• The statue was based upon
the Colossus of Rhodes that
stood at the harbor on the
Island of Rhodes. Both were
built based on a celebration
of freedom and the Statue
of Liberty is also known as
the Modern Colossus. (The
http://fadedandblurred.com/blog/lady-libertys-125th-birthday/
Jewish Magazine)
11. But where will she stand?
• Fund raisers and auctions were set up in order to raise
funds to construct a pedestal for the statue.
• Writers such as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman and John
Burroughs submitted works to be auctioned off.
• In 1883 Emma Lazarus was approached and asked to
donate a poem to be auctioned for the "In Aid of the
Bartholdi Pedestal Fund."
• Eventually the funds were raised and sixteen years
after Emma Lazarus’ death.
• Georgina Schuyler, a patron and member of the New
York high society, was inspired by the poem and the
last five lines of her poem titled “The New Colossus”
was placed on a plaque inside of the pedestal in
Emma’s honor.
12. Inspiration for the New Colossus
• Emma Lazarus was moved by Greek myths along with
Hebrew scholars and it was reflected in her work; She
also wrote of America’s cultural developments.
• “Struggling beneath the poem's surface, these tensions
—between ancient and modern, Jew and American,
voice and silence, freedom and oppression—give
Emma Lazarus's work meaning and power (Jewish
Women’s Archive).”
• She often visited the immigrants’ camps because she
felt a tie to her “brothers and sisters” even though she
was a wealthy member of society.
13. “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!"
14. Meaning within The New Colossus
“Lazarus contrasts the soon-to-be
installed symbol of the United
States with what many consider the
perfect symbol of the Greek and
Roman era, the Colossus of Rhodes.
Her comparison proved
appropriate, for Bartholdi himself
created the Statue of Liberty with
the well-known Colossus in mind.” http://www.rhodesguide.com/rhode
s/colossus_rhodes.php
15. “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.”
Emma makes a direct comparison between the Greek
Colossus of Rhodes and the Statue of Liberty, or Modern
Colossus. They both represented freedom for the people of
their land, however, the Greek statue was created as a
celebration of a war victory and the Statue of Liberty was
created as a celebration of a new found freedom for
Americans. She describes her as the “Mother of Exiles”
because she represents the acceptance of those no longer
welcome in their homeland.
16. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes
command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
The light held in the
Statue’s hand is the
“light at the end of the
tunnel,” or a guide for
those looking for refuge
and a new home.
http://ellisisland.smugmug.com/keyword/statue
%20of%20liberty/239640909_k3MiZ#!
i=239640909&k=k3MiZ
17. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips.
This shows that the Statue of Liberty contains power
without having to utter a word. Just her presence
alone sends the clear message that America is not
looking to bring the vulgar behaviors and actions
completed by ancient lands in the past; America is
a new land offering rights and chance for people
to create their own lives, free from their previous
judgments.
19. "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!"
This helps emphasize the sense of freedom and pride that
one feels upon arriving in America. The immigrants are
all welcomed who look for a place to belong. It gives a
sense of relief to those who were “Tempest-tost,” or
hit repeatedly by hardships. The lamp in the Statue’s
hand it the golden door, the landmark to which they
need to arrive to know that they have completed their
journey for freedom and salvation.
