1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Welcome Back to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: where we reveal a new piece of history every day. 4 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: Today is July nineteen. The day was July eight forty nine. 5 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: Emma Lazarus was born in New York City to parents 6 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: Moses and Esther Lazarus. Emma would go on to become 7 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: a successful author an advocate for Jewish people around the world. 8 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: Emma had six siblings. Her family was wealthy from their 9 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: business in sugar refinery and industry that largely relied on 10 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: the labor of enslaved people. Emma lived a comfortable life 11 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: and had private tutors, and she learned to speak several languages. 12 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,279 Speaker 1: She began writing and translating poetry early on, and her 13 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: father privately printed her first work in eighteen sixty six. 14 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: The next year, the collection Poems and Translations written between 15 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: the ages of fourteen and seventeen, was printed commercially. This 16 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: second edition got Emma a lot more attention, including that 17 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: of writer Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emmerson became Emma's mentor, and 18 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 1: the two of them would correspond for years to come, 19 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: though they did have a falling out over the course 20 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: of their relationship. In eighteen seventy one, Lazarus published a 21 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: second volume of poetry called at Meda's and Other Poems. 22 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: The book includes her original poems and translations of works 23 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:43,959 Speaker 1: by other poets. Three years later, she published her only novel, 24 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: which was based on Johann Wolfgang von Gerta's personal accounts 25 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: of his life. Throughout the eighteen seventies and eighteen eighties, 26 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: Emma published poems, a play in verse, translations, and essays. 27 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: It was in the early eighteen eighties when Lazarus took 28 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,279 Speaker 1: up the call of denouncing anti Semitism and her writing. 29 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: She published Songs of a Semite, The Dance to Death, 30 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: and other poems in which she celebrated her Jewish heritage. 31 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: She also contributed to magazines like American Hebrew and The Century. 32 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: Among other essays, she published Russian Christianity Versus Modern Judaism, 33 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: a response to a journalist who defended anti Semitic pograms. 34 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: Anti Semitism was spreading in Eastern Europe and her work 35 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: became controversial. In eight three, Emma traveled to England and 36 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: France and met poets and writers like Robert Browning and 37 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: William Morris. When she returned to the US that year, 38 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,080 Speaker 1: she wrote the poem The New Colossus to help phraise 39 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 1: money for a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty, which 40 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 1: France planned to give to the U S as a gift. 41 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: In the poem, she imagined the statue as the Mother 42 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: of Exiles, a character who says the following, give me 43 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 44 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the 45 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: homeless tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside 46 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:13,240 Speaker 1: the Golden door. The poem was later engraved on a 47 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: plaque and hung in the museum in the statue's pedestal. 48 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: As Emma wrote more from her singular Jewish and American perspective, 49 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: she began advocating for the creation of a Jewish homeland 50 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: before Zionism had gained a lot of ground. Emma was 51 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: also active in advocating for Jewish refugees. Outside of her writing. 52 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: She helped found the Hebrew Technical Institute of New York, 53 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: which provided Jewish immigrants with vocational training. She also taught 54 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: English at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and lamented the 55 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: conditions of immigrants on Wards Island. From eighteen eighty five 56 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: to eighteen eighty seven, Emma traveled throughout Europe, during which 57 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: time she became sick. She traveled as a way to 58 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: regain her composure and strength after her father died, according 59 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: to Emma's sister Josephine, but by the time she got 60 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: back to New York in eighteen eighties seven, her eyesight 61 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: was poor, she lost hearing in one ear, and she 62 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: had paralysis in her face. She died in November of 63 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty seven at age thirty eight, probably of Hodgkins slimphoma. 64 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: After she died, her family, who had not shared the 65 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,919 Speaker 1: same openness about their Jewish heritage nor been super comfortable 66 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: with her activism since herd Emma's pro Jewish and Zionist 67 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: views and posthumous publications. I'm Eves Jeffcote, and hopefully you 68 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 69 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: If you'd like to learn more about Emma, you can 70 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: check out the episode of Stuff you missed in History 71 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: class called Emma Lazarus. The link is in the description. 72 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at 73 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:57,840 Speaker 1: t d I h C podcast. Thanks again for listening 74 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: and we'll see you tomorrow. M m m hmm. For 75 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I heart 76 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 77 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: favorite shows.