Emma Lazarus (1849 - 1887) was a poet, essayist, translator, novelist, and playwright. Born in New York City, she is best known for this sonnet, which she wrote to help raise money for a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. The poem was ultimately engraved on a plaque on that pedestal and its petition to "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearing to breathe free" has become a comforting mantra to millions of refugees coming to America in search of freedom and fulfillment. Emma's father, a prosperous sugar merchant, paid to have her first collection of poetry published when she was seventeen. Ralph Waldo Emerson happened upon the book, expressed his admiration for her work, and the two became lifelong friends. Emma worked tirelessly to educate and assimilate Jewish immigrants arriving in America and is acknowledged today as much for her activism as for her writing.