Lift a Lamp for Emma Lazarus
It’s the ‘The New Colossus’ poet’s birthday
July 22, 2011
The Statue of Liberty in 1986 (with Nancy Reagan inside).(Wikipedia)
Happy birthday to Emma Lazarus, born July 22, 1849. She was a feminist, an activist, and, above all, an internationally renowned poet.
Most famous is “The New Colossus,” which is inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty. (Some people now incorporate the poem into Passover Seders.)
There are spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty from The Museum of Jewish Heritage in lower Manhattan, where a new exhibit opens this October in commemoration of Lazarus’ contributions to the formation of the American character.
If you can’t get to New York City, a newly-launched panel exhibit (created by the American Library Association in conjunction with Nextbook Press) is traveling to libraries around the country through early 2012, And, of course, no matter where you are, you can learn more about Lazarus by reading Esther Schor’s biography, published by Nextbook Press.
Emma Lazarus [Nextbook Press]
‘I Lift My Lamp’ [Tablet Magazine]
