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Emma was born
On July, 22, 1849, Emma Lazarus was born in New York City, New York. -
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Preschool
Emma Lazarus was tutored privately by a friend of her parents. -
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Elementary School
Emma Lazarus was still being privately tutored by a friend of her parents'. -
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High School
Emma Lazarus was still being privately tutored. -
Poems
When Emma was 18 years old, she published her first series of poems into a book. -
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emma met Ralph. Emerson when she was 18 years old. Ralph was also a poet. They began to correspond with each other and he became something of a mentor to her. Emma gave notice to Ralph in her book of her collection of poems, called "Poems and Translations". Emerson wrote to Lazarus saying, "poems have important merits." -
Poems and Translations
Emma Lazarus wrote "Poems and Translations", a book including her poems. She mentions Ralph Waldo Emerson in this book as well. -
Work
Emma Lazarus worked as an aide for Jewish immigrants who had been hurt or detained by immigration officials. She was influenced by the Russian Jews she met there and her experience influenced her writing. -
Mother's death
On April 21, 1874, Esther Lazarus (Emma's mother) died. -
Songs of a Semite
In 1882, Emma Lazarus published a poem called "Songs of a Semite". -
A special offer
America had not yet raised enough money to build the base that the Statue of Liberty would stand on, so a man named William Maxwell Evarts (U.S. Senator from New York), asked several popular writers including Emma to write an original and unique poem that would be sold at an auction in New York City as part of a fundraising drive. All of the poems would be judged until they found which one was the best. So she took the job and started writing the poem. -
The New Colossus
Emma Lazarus wrote "The New Colossus", a poem about/for the Statue of Liberty. -
Bidding day
The day came when the best poem would be chosen. Emma was chosen, with the poem "The New Colossus". Later they decided that it was a good idea to put her poem on the monument. -
Father's death
On March 9, 1885, Moses Lazarus (Emma's father) died. -
The Mother Of Exiles
The day that they would engrave the poem into the entrance of the Statue of Liberty (This process was called "The Mother of Exiles"), Emma could not attend. Her father had recently died and had a funeral that day. -
Death
At the age of 38, Emma Lazarus died on November 19, 1887. She died from "Hodgkin's lymphoma". -
Hidden Poems
After she died, her sister hid her first poems, and the poems went missing. Soon, someone found out that her sister had sold them to a lady. Her sister claimed that the reason she sold them was because she didn't want to be reminded of Emma's death.
