Legacy

When Emma Lazarus died at the age of thirty-eight, she left behind a rich legacy. Memorial issues of both The Critic and American Hebrew were filled with tributes to her. John Hay mourned that her early death was not only an, "affliction to those of her own race and kindred," but also, "an irreparable loss to American literature." Lazarus was one of the first renowned Jewish writers in American literary history.

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She was also an important forerunner of the Zionist movement. Lazarus argued for the creation of a Jewish homeland thirteen years before Herzl began to use the term Zionism. Her "Epistle to the Hebrews" was reprinted by the Federation of American Zionists in 1900. As Henrietta Szold wrote in American Hebrew, "With her own hand she has sown the seeds that shall transform her grave into a garden..."

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The memory of Emma Lazarus has continued to inspire activists throughout the years. The "New Colossus" itself has become a banner statement for immigrant rights and freedom. The Emma Lazarus Federation of Jewish Woman's Clubs is another example of her influence. Since the 1950's, women in this organization have fought anti-semitism and racism while celebrating Jewish culture and striving to provide, "leadership to women in the Jewish communities in our time in the same spirit as Emma Lazarus did in hers."

Notes

Next—Defining Emma Lazarus