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Freedom's Light - July 2024

Leslie Ryan

Happy Independence Day to all of you, my fellow descendants of immigrants! They came to this country to escape oppression, slavery, famine, or poverty, lured to this new land by the well-publicized Preamble to our Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."


I would like to share with you the poem on the base of the Statue of Liberty, written by Emma Lazarus in 1883. There are some links (below) to photos and virtual tours of Ellis Island that you could share with your families on the birthday of the country that our courageous ancestors built.


Statue of Liberty with Tablets and Torch Blue Sky

"The New Colossus"


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!”

(November 2, 1883)



Virtual Tour of Ellis Island and more from the National Parks Service


Vintage Photos at Ellis Island


Happy birthday, America!


With best wishes for you and your families,

Leslie Ryan




No compensation is received for any links or references herein, no copyright infringement is intended.

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