Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty

A celebration of our nation's melting pot, this beautifully illustrated origin story of the Statue of Liberty honors a poet who has advocated for the voiceless.

"Give me your tired, your poor
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . " In 1883, Emma Lazarus, deeply moved by an influx of immigrants from eastern Europe, wrote a sonnet that gave a voice to the Statue of Liberty. Originally a gift from France to celebrate our shared national struggles for liberty, the statue, thanks to Emma's poem, came to define us as a nation that welcomes immigrants. The text of that now famous poem, "The New Colossus," appears in this free-verse biography, illustrated in an exquisite folk art style. The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus has been selected as a Common Core Text Exemplar (Grades 4-5, Poetry)


About the Author
Linda Glaser's grandparents emigrated from eastern Europe in the late 1800's to New York City, where they first saw the huge statue.
Claire Nivola's parents and grandparents arrived by ship in New York harbor in 1939, passing under the gaze of the Statue of Liberty, as part of the great European flight from anti-Semitism and Fascism.