Emma Lazarus, Hidden Hero of History

A story of empathy in action and the power of words! Emma Lazarus' life is a testament to courage and compassion—from her literary work to her tireless advocacy for Jewish immigrants coming to America for the chance of better lives. Her most iconic poem, The New Colossus, helped raise the funds to build the Statue of Liberty. The poem’s timeless message of welcoming ‘the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free,’ has remained as a symbol of hope and inclusion for generations.

Go to the episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/emma-lazarus/

Get a free activity guide on Emma Lazarus: https://dorktalesstorytime.aweb.page/ep84freePDF

Download Redge’s Family Tree: https://bit.ly/RedgeFamilyTree

If you liked this story about Emma Lazarus, you might like learning about other women in history: https://jonincharacter.com/kids-podcast-playlist-for-womens-history-month/

CREDITS: Hidden Heroes of History is a Jonincharacter production. Today’s story was written by Rebecca Cunningham, edited and produced by Molly Murphy and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Hamilton Studio Recordings.

Transcript

JONATHAN CORMUR: Hello Dork Squad. I'm Jonathan Cormur and you're listening to Dorktales Storytime, the podcast for kids and their pop culture-loving grown-ups, and this is an inspiring story about a hidden hero of history.

THEME SONG: It's a beautiful day for a story, adventure and glory, new friends and old ones too. It's an excellent day to get swept away in a tail, so let us regale you.

Redge is up in a tree, hammering photographs to the branches. Rustling of leaves and efforts from Redge as he struggles.

JONATHAN

Uh … Redge? What … are … you … doing up in the Un-fir-gettable tree? 

REDGE

Oh! Jonathan. Hello there! I’m simply building my family tree, of course! I just have to nail this last photograph to this branch here — woah, woah, woahhhhhh!

Redge loses his balance and falls off of the tree. 

JONATHAN

Oh, no! Redge! Are you alright, buddy?

REDGE

Oh, yes. I’m just fine. My quills seem to be stuck in the ground. Could you lend me a hand, please?

JONATHAN: Not a problem. Give me your paw.

REDGE: Here we go, Easy, Easy…(popping sounds of unsticking quills) Ah, there we are. Thanks mate!

JONATHAN

Not a problem. Now did you say you were building a family tree? 

REDGE

Yes, that’s quite right. Tacking the photos and names of my family members to the un-fir-gettable tree.

JONATHAN

Oh well, I have some good news and bad news. 

REDGE

Tell me the bad news first.

JONATHAN

A family tree isn’t an actual tree. 

REDGE

It’s not?! But what is it?

JONATHAN
 Well, that’s the good news. A family tree is something you can write down on a piece of paper to take record of your ancestors and family members. 

REDGE

Well, why didn’t you say so?! That’s far easier than climbing up this ridiculous tree. 

JONATHAN

LIke I said, good news! All you have to do is write down their birthdates, where they were born, and who they’re related to and how. When you’re all done, all of the lines that connect the family members will sort of look like a tree. That’s why they call it a family tree. They’re very fun to make.

REDGE

Well what are we waiting for? Shall we start writing everything down? I have quill pens in spades but I seem to be lacking paper.

JONATHAN

I think I have some at my house..

REDGE

Lead the way my good sir!

REDGE
 (Like an announcer) LATER AT JONATHAN’S HOUSE

JONATHAN
 Why are you talking like that, Redge?

REDGE
 Talking like what?

JONATHAN
 But you were just…oh, never mind.

JONATHAN
 Ah-ha. Here’s the paper. 

REDGE
 Hand it here. Now let’s begin. 

JONATHAN
 First write down your name inside of a box. 

REDGE
 A box you say? (Writing) Reg-i-nald T. Heeeedge-hog.

JONATHAN

Now, draw two lines at the top of that box with boxes at the end of each line. That’s where you’ll put your parents’ names.

Writing and drawing sounds over the next few lines.

REDGE

Regiford Hedgehog, my papa and Regina Hedgehog, my mama. 

JONATHAN 

Great job. Now keep going back in time writing down all of the ancestors you know. 

REDGE

There’s my grandfather Sedgwick Hedgehog, my great-grandfather Hedgemont Hedgehog, my great, great grandfather Englebert Humperdink Hedgehog IV (of no relation to the singer, and all relation to me, Reginald), and then there’s my great-great grandmother Freida Hedgehog of Fairyquill. 

JONATHAN

Fairyquill? Where’s that? 

REDGE

Oh, it’s a land far away from here where most hedgehogs are from. In fact, Freida was the first in my family to come to Once Upon a Time Land. She came all by her lonesome when she was a young girl of fourteen to follow her dreams. 

JONATHAN

That must have been scary for her. 

REDGE

Oh, I imagine it must’ve been terribly frightening!

JONATHAN

I bet she was very brave to leave the only home she knew to immigrate here. 

REDGE

Immigrate? What does that mean? 

JONATHAN

Immigrating is what a person does when they move into a country that they weren’t born in or aren’t a citizen of. 

REDGE

Ah, yes. Well that’s exactly what Freida did. Immigrated to Once Upon a Time Land. 

JONATHAN

You know, that reminds me of a personal hero of mine. 

REDGE

Does that mean it’s time for a story? 

JONATHAN

I think it does, Redge. I think it does. 

REDGE: Of a true hero of history? 

JONATHAN: That’s right! 

REDGE

Oh cherry-cherry-pip-pip!

JONATHAN

Today’s hidden hero of history is–

Trumpet sound. 

JONATHAN

Emma Lazarus! She was a writer, a poet, and an activist who was born in 1847 and lived in New York City. 

REDGE

An activist? Jonathan, could you remind me of what that means?

JONATHAN
 An excellent question, Redge. An activist is someone who works really hard to make the world a better place by speaking up and taking action for things they believe are important.

REDGE

Well, then I must be an activist. I’m speaking up constantly. 

JONATHAN

Perhaps you are an activist, Redge! We can all be activists if there’s something we believe in that we want to stand up for! 

REDGE

I’m also standing up constantly! 

JONATHAN

True! Emma Lazarus stood up for the rights of Jewish immigrants who were fleeing Russia and arriving in the United States in the 1880s.

REDGE

Just like (he is attempting to say “Freida fled Fairyquill”) FreidaflebFlairykwel! FreidaFlezQuairyFill. (Breathes in.) Fleida - Fred - Quarkie- Oh, you know what I mean!

JONATHAN

Yes, Redge. Many Jewish people left Russia just like Freida fled Fairyquill. There were a lot of Jewish immigrants leaving Russia at the time because they were being treated unfairly simply because they were Jewish. 

REDGE

That’s preposterous! That doesn’t seem fair at all.They can’t help who they are.

JONATHAN

That’s what Ms. Lazarus thought too. You see, she came from a Sephardic Jewish family. In 1654, long before she was born, the ancestors on Ms. Lazarus’ family tree fled a country called Brazil where Jewish people were being treated unfairly just for being Jewish. 

REDGE

Just like the Jewish people in Russia!

JONATHAN

Correct. Because of Ms. Lazarus’ background, she felt a connection with the new people coming to her country.

REDGE

I even feel a connection with them! And I’m of Hedgehoggian background!

JONATHAN

You know, I do too. I know I haven’t experienced anything like moving to a brand new place where I don’t speak the language or know the customs– 

REDGE: Except for the land of Once Upon a Time! 

JONATHAN: That’s true! But I had YOU to teach me and welcome me when I stumbled in here.

REDGE: And I’m the best tour guide. I even have an “ask me anything” badge I carry around, just in case! 

JONATHAN: Exactly! For the folks immigrating to new countries though, I can imagine it’s got to be difficult. And it’s a good thing to welcome people into the place you live and make them feel safe.

REDGE

A mitzvah some might call it.

JONATHAN

Hey, Redge! Mitzvah is the word Jewish people use to describe a good deed. How did you know that?!

REDGE

I know things, Jonathan! 

JONATHAN

I don’t doubt it. Well, Ms. Lazarus did a lot of mitzvahs in her lifetime including starting a school!

REDGE

A school?

JONATHAN 

A school, called the Hebrew Technical School. Because the Jewish people were being treated so poorly in Russia, they didn’t have a lot of skills. So when they arrived in America it was hard to find a job. Schools like the Hebrew Technical School taught them different skills so they could go get a job and pay for things like food and a place to live. 

REDGE

Education is of the utmost importance, I always say.

JONATHAN

It certainly is, Redge. She also volunteered to help Jewish immigrants find shelter in New York City when they first arrived. 

REDGE: Offering them a hovel where they could hang their hats and rest their heads? How marvelous.

JONATHAN: I agree! 

Her interest in the experience of Jewish people in America also showed up in her writing and poetry. 

REDGE

Oh, right! You mentioned earlier she was a writer and a poet! 

JONATHAN

Yes, her love for writing started when she was just a young girl. When she turned seventeen, her father, who was a wealthy merchant, paid to have her first book of poetry and translations printed.  

REDGE

Seventeen! My word. What was I doing at seventeen? Oh. I haven’t gotten to that age yet. Maybe I’ll write a book like Emma! I better get started. There’s not enough time! Hand over that paper!

JONATHAN

Oh. Do you think we could finish this story first?

REDGE

Oh, yes. Quite right. Go on, dear friend.

JONATHAN

Thank you. Now where was I? Ah, yes. Ms. Lazarus went on to write about many different topics in many different mediums, not only poetry. She also wrote plays, essays, books, dramas, and a novel. 

REDGE

My word! Or her words really.

JONATHAN

Yes, and there were a lot of words. She had written a little bit about being Jewish before, but when she first learned of the Jewish immigrants coming over to America and everything that they were struggling with when they arrived, she started to write about their experiences a lot more. 

REDGE

Like what? 

JONATHAN

She wrote a book of poems called Songs of a Semite where she talked about how wrong it was to treat Jewish people unkindly just for being Jewish. Over the next few years she wrote many essays and open letters about that very topic. There is one poem that many Americans know, but many don’t know that she wrote it! 

REDGE
 What poem is that? Tell me the poem. I’ve decided I’m a writer like Ms. Lazarus and I need inspiration immediately. Hurry, Jonathan!

JONATHAN

Okay, okay. It’s called The New Colossus and I think I have it in a book over … Ah, yes here it is. The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
 With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
 Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
 A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
 Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
 Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
 Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
 The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
 "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
 With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
 Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
 The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
 Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
 I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

REDGE
 (weeping) It’s … beautiful! It touched my heart. I feel like I know it somehow. 

JONATHAN

Well, have you heard of The Statue of Liberty? 

REDGE

Possibly? She’s that lady from your world that stands holding a torch like the one mentioned in the poem, isn’t she?

JONATHAN

Well, it’s a statue of a lady. Lady Liberty some call her. The Statue of Liberty is a statue that stands in the Upper New York Bay in New York City and was often the first site immigrants saw when they entered the United States by ship. The Statue of Liberty was a symbol of hope for a new and better life for so many of them. 

REDGE

How beautiful. But what does that have to do with Ms. Lazarus? 

JONATHAN

Ms. Lazarus wrote The New Colussus specifically for the Statue of Liberty, to raise money for it so it could be built. The poem sits at the base of the statue to this day, sending the message that all are welcome in the United States of America, no matter religion, background, or race.

REDGE

How inspiring, Jonathan. Thank you for telling me about Ms. Lazarus. Her love for helping other people and letting their stories be heard makes me feel like I could perhaps do the same. Perhaps my book will be about Freida coming to Once Upon a Time Land. 

JONATHAN

That’s an excellent idea, Redge! You already have the quill pens and paper. You just need to start. 

REDGE

Yes, but where to begin? It has to be as brilliant as The New Colossus and as popular as the work of famous hedgehog Bard Quilliam Shakespeare! 

JONATHAN

Those are really big shoes to fill, Redge. 

REDGE

I do have rather small feet. 

JONATHAN

No, I mean — well. Maybe you just start with the words “Once Upon a Time” and see where it takes you.

REDGE

Yes. (writing) Once upon a time a 14 year old hedgehog traveled by land and sea for miles and miles from her one and only home and family in search of a land where all of her dreams could come true.

JONATHAN CORMUR: Dorktales’ Hidden Heroes of History is a Jonincharacter production. This story was written by Rebecca Cunningham, edited by Molly Murphy, and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Hamilton Studio Recordings. Reach out to us on Instagram or email us at dorktalesstorytime@gmail.com. Find links in the show notes or go to dorktalesstorytime.com. Now, go be the hero of your own story and we’ll see you next once-upon-a-time!

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