FAMILY AND FREEDOMS

Born July 1849 in New York City, she was a Sephardic Jew, which means her

family way back in the 1600’s landed in lower Manhattan, at the Battery, and

settled here. They had originally come from Portugal and from Brazil which was

a Portuguese possession. She is a fourth generation American, meaning her GREAT,

GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER first arrived and out of this family came her GREAT,

GREAT, GRANDFATHER; followed by her GREAT GRANDFATHER, followed by her

GRANDFATHER, followed by her father and finally EMMA LAZARUS.

Being wealthy she had a very comfortable life, but during her life there were many

crises, which Emma Lazarus took very seriously: CIVIL WAR, RISE OF THE LABOR

UNIONS, WAVES OF IMMIGRATION, and Emma Lazarus involved herself in all these

crises.

FINDING A LITERARY VOICE

Emma was one of seven children. They were a cultured family, all well educated

and an extensive library at home, and of course they were all well-read.

Emma started writing when she was 14 and when she was 17, her father published

her book of poetry entitled: Poems and Translations.