Emma Lazarus was an American poet born in New York City. She is best known for "The New Colossus", a sonnet written in 1883; its lines appear on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty placed in 1903.

My Grandma's father arrived in this country through New York City, and often spoke to my dad, when he was a boy, of what it was like to first see the Statue of Liberty. Most of my relatives arrived through Philadelphia or Boston, and didn't get to see the the "mighty woman with the torch" until later life, on vacation trips to New York City, when she was a must-see for them all. My Grandma always loved this Emma Lazarus poem, so I read this one especially for her, but also for all the other family members who came here "yearning to breathe free". And for those just like my family, who are still "♫♪coming to America, today♫♪".