so in that sense emma lazarus is extraordinarily important. you could argue that she's more important to our understanding of the statue of liberty than the guy who built it. >> right, and some critics such as james russell lowe even said you gave it a reason dettori and perhaps your work was more important than the sculptures, and at the same time it did forever change the message. i think through getting to know emma lazarus with our exhibition here at the museum, that it's only by knowing her evolution as an american and as a jewish-american who came to understand the plight, not only of jewish refugees but for all those in exile that there wouldn't be an easy answer for everyone, especially in the urban centers, that she starts to really reframe the message. let's take a look. i think most people who know her poem only know those few lines, give me your tired, your poor and i learned it as a school kid singing the irving berlin song for "miss liberty" years later. as i've come to know emma i've come to know the poem a whole new way and com

that's what emma lazarus had in mind. we're not doing that. >> and she started out with a negative statement which isn't what we usually think of with poetry, like let's start criticizing something else. >> not like the brazen giant of greek fame with conquering limbs, conquering limbs astride from land to land. we're not going to do that. we're going to have a milder image. now the image is still going to be a mighty woman with a torch, but it's interesting that the transformation has been from a male warrior image to a female image. it's not a demure woman. it's a powerful woman argues mighty woman, and she's captured lightning, right? is the imprisoned lightning, and her name, and emma lazarus gave her the name mother of exiles. so that she is a mother figure. >> to me that's the big moment in the poem that nobody knows. >> right, right. >> mother of exile, and -- and so she's shifting -- emma lazarus is shifting now from the negative to the positive so we're not going to do the kind of thing that the ancients did with

this is the origins of and the lazarus -- of emma lazarus' p oem. she said i am t a writer of higher even for a good cause like this. i write a poem because it comes fromithin. one of her friends says you have been doling out, you have been going out to wards island, working with the jewish emigrants who are suffering, who have fled a place where they have been persecuted. you are working with these people. you have come to know them, feel for them, and you should then write a poem that represents their plight. emma then _ good that she could connect the plight of the jewish propertierefugees that she had n working witthe with the statue, and she did that. lazarus did this by making the statue of liberty speak, but " give me your tired, your pouor." she breathed life into this and are statue, which is not something that would have occurred to a sculptor. in that sense, emma lazarus is extraordinarily important, you could argue more important than the guy who built it. >> and some critics even said, you gave it a reason for existence, and perhaps you

this is the origin of the and the lazarus' poem -- the emma lazarus poem. her first impulse was to say, i do not do stuff like that. i am a poet. i wait for a news. i am not a writer for hire. i write because it comes from within. one of her friends, and esther short quotes this -- shore quotes this in her biograph of emma, says, you have been working with jewish immigrants who are suffering, who have fled a place where they how often persecuted. you are working with these people. you have come to feel for them. you should write a poem that represents their plight. emma then understood she could connect the plight of jewish refugees to the statue of liberty. she did depth. -- she did that. as some top scholars have said, she did that by giving the statue of liberty a voice. she makes the statue speak. "give me your tired." the statue is talking. she breathes life into this in our statute, something that would not have occurred to a sculptor, because that is not what sculptors do. in that sense, emma lazarus, you could argue, is more important to our underst

in that sense, emma lazarus is extraordinarily important, you could argue more important than the guy who built it. >> and some critics even said, you gave it a reason for existence, and perhaps your work was may be more important to the work of the sculptor's, which is hard to believe, but it did forever changed the message. it is only by knowing her evolution as an american, as a jewish-american, who came to understand the plight, not only of jewish refugees but all of those in exile, that there would not be an easy answer for everyone, especially in the urban centers. she starts to really refrain the message. -- reframe the message. i think people only know a few lines of the poem. i learned it from the irving berlin song, like years later. but as i have gotten to know emma, i read this poem in such a different way and see this whole front and that sets up the second half that we know. i will read through with, and then ask you to on pack this. it is called the new colossus. "not like the brazen giant of greek thain, with conquering limbs that stride from land to land, you're at r.

we have been working with ed and a team of scholars to look at the work of the poet emma lazarus. he has been indelibly linked with the poem at the statue of liberty. he has worked on the exhibition on display until the end of 2012, and i am pleased he is here to share his insights into the history and meaning of the statue. one reason we decided to do this is this is a big year. we are into the year 125 years into the dedication, so it is a perfect time for your book to come out, and i think very few people really know where the idea came from for the statue, so give us some insight into how it came into being. >> it came into being in france in the middle of the 19th century. it was 1865 right after the assassination of abraham lincoln, and a group of french people behind the idea were emotionally tied to the united states. they love the american form of government, and they were abolitionists, so they have a particular affection for president lincoln, so they came together at the home of a man who was france's leading specialist on the united states. toqueville died in 1859, an

this is the origins of and the lazarus -- of emma lazarus' p oem. she said i am not a writer of higher even for a good cause like this. i write a poem because it comes from within. one of her friends says you have been doling out, you have been going out to wards island, working with the jewish emigrants who are suffering, who have fled a place where they have been persecuted. you are working with these people. you have come to know them, feel for them, and you should then write a poem that represents their plight. emma then _ good that she could connect the plight of the jewish propertierefugees that she had n working with the with the statue, and she did that. lazarus did this by making the statue of liberty speak, but " give me your tired, your pouor." she breathed life into this and are statue, which is not something that would have occurred to a sculptor. in that sense, emma lazarus is extraordinarily important, you could argue more important than the guy who built it. >> and some critics even said, you gave it a reason for existence, and perha

we've been working with ed and a team of scholar advisors to look at the life and work of the poet emma lazarus who composed the famous poem "the new colossus that graces the statue of liberty" and has been indelibly linked with it for over 100 years at this point. and ed has worked with us on this exhibition that is on display through the end of 2012 and the lazarus poet of exiles, and i'm very pleased that he's here to share many of the insights into the meaning and history of the statue so welcome, ed. >> thank you. >> so one of the reasons we decided to do next business when we did is that this is a big anniversary year for the statue of celebrity. we're into the year of 125 years past the dedication of the statue, so new york has been celebrating. it's been a natural time of reflection, a perfect time for your book to come out, and i think very few people really know though where the idea came from for the statue, and so give us some insight into -- into how it came into being. >> so the statue of liberty came into being in france in the middle of the 19th century. it was actually 1865 rig

this is the origins of and the lazarus -- of emma lazarus' p oem. she said i am not a writer of higher even for a good cause like this. i write a poem because it comes from within. one of her friends says you have been doling out, you have been going out to wards island, working with the jewish emigrants who are suffering, who have fled a place where they have been persecuted. you are working with these people. you have come to know them, feel for them, and you should then write a poem that represents their plight. emma then _ good that she could connect the plight of the jewish propertierefugees that she had n working with the with the statue, and she did that. statue, and she did that. lazarus