Who wrote “The New Colossus,” the poem inscribed at the Statue of Liberty?

Emma Lazarus wrote “The New Colossus,” the poem inscribed at the Statue of Liberty.

Lazarus composed the sonnet in 1883 to help raise money for the statue’s pedestal. She initially hesitated to participate in the fundraising effort, but she was persuaded that the monument could have special meaning for immigrants arriving in New York Harbor.

The poem contrasts the Statue of Liberty with the ancient Colossus of Rhodes. Lazarus presents the American statue as a “Mother of Exiles,” emphasizing refuge rather than military power. Its best-known lines address newcomers arriving from overseas.

The poem was not part of the statue’s original 1886 dedication. Lazarus’s friend Georgina Schuyler later helped revive interest in it, and a bronze plaque bearing the poem was installed inside the pedestal in 1903. The original manuscript is held by the American Jewish Historical Society.