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LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - MARCH 20, 2016
The Mother of Exiles
by Lynne Belluscio
Now that Lady Liberty is back
in LeRoy, I’m getting ready to
put together an exhibit about her.
Last week you read that I need to
find a couple of 1950s Boy Scout
uniforms. (Haven’t heard from
anyone yet.)
But now I’m reading about the
Statue of Liberty in the New York
Harbor. I’ll be sharing some of
the history in the next couple of
weeks. Most of us are aware of
the lines from the poem: “Give me
your tired, your poor, your hud-
dled masses yearning to breathe
free . . . ” The words are from “The
New Colossus.” But I never knew
that it was written by a Jewish
woman in an effort to raise money
to build the base.
France had agreed to build the
statue and to present it to the Unit-
ed States, under the condition that
Americans would raise enough
money to build the base. Joseph
Pulitzer, the noted newspaper-
man, was afraid that the money
couldn’t be raised, so he contacted
American writers, includingMark
Twain, Walt Whitman, and Emma
Lazarus and asked them to write
poems which would be auctioned
to raise money.
Emma Lazarus’ poem, “The
NewColossus” brought the highest
bid of $1,500. It was the only poem
read at the 1883 fund-raiser. Three
years later, the money had been
raised, the base had been built,
and the statue was shipped from
France and erected.
But sadly, a year lat-
er, Emma Lazarus
died at the age of
34, of Hodgkin’s
disease. Her story is
very interesting.
Emma Lazarus
was born in 1849
in New York City.
He r f ami l y was
very wealthy and
her ancestors had
arrived in America
many years before
the Revolution. She
was well educated
and enjoyed writing.
But she was well
aware of the pov-
erty in New York,
particularly of the
European Jewish
immigrants.
She visitedWard’s
Island in New York
Harbor and became an active
member of the Hebrew Immigrant
Aid Society. When she wrote the
poem (actually it’s a sonnet) she
focused attention on the plight of
the millions of immigrants coming
through the New York Harbor.
She called the statue the “Mother
of Exiles.” It was Emma’s words
that welcomed people to this land
of liberty and freedom.
Twenty years after Emma’s
death, her words were engraved on
a bronze plaque and placed in the
entrance to the statue. Ten years
later, her words were included
in school books and memorized.
(Now forgotten.) Sixty years later,
in 1949, her words were used by
the composer, Irving Berlin, and
the song was sung on Broadway.
I hope to find a choral group to
perform the Irving Berlin song - - I
think it is more like a hymn - - at
the dedication in July.
If you are not familiar with
Emma Lazarus’ sonnet, here it is:
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of
Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride
from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset
gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch,
whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and
her name
Strengthen the Arm of Liberty - these folks rented a Statue of Liberty tie for the night at LeRoy House and
raised $300 to help restore LeRoy’s Statue of Liberty.
Mother of Exiles. From her
beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her
mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin
cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your
storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your
tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to
breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden
door!”