Legacy of “The New Colossus” | Iconic America

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French to the United States to celebrate Franco-American relations and the abolition of slavery at the end of the Civil War. Emma Lazurus, a Jewish American poet, was commissioned to write a poem for an auction to raise funds for the statue pedestal. Her poem was written in 1883 and largely forgotten until her friend Georgina Schuyler rekindled interest in it, and had it placed on a plaque on the pedestal in 1903.

Students read Lazurus’ poem “The New Colossus” and analyze how it helped define the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of immigration.