Emma Lazarus biography

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Born July 22, 1849, Emma Lazarus was raised a Sephardic Jew, and displayed an early talent for poetry. She attracted the notice of Ralph Waldo Emerson with her first book, Poems and Translations (1867). Her poem "The New Colossus" was chosen to be displayed at the Statue of Liberty. It features the famous lines "Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."