E Pluribus Unum

From Many, One

“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 standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame."Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith 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!"

--Emma Lazarus

Ellis Island Mini Facts

• 12 million people entered the U.S. at Ellis Island from 1892-1954.

• 40% of people in the U.S. are related to someone who entered Ellis Island.

• Ellis Island was called the “Golden Doors.”• Statue of Liberty, a gift from France to the

U.S., was dedicated October 28, 1886.

“I Hear America Singing”

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.~ Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

“I, Too”

I, too, sing America.I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.Tomorrow,I’ll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody’ll dare say to me,“Eat in the kitchen,”Then.Besides,They’ll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed – -I, too, am America.~ Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes

The Dream of Now

When you wake to the dream of nowfrom night and its other dream,you carry day out of the darklike a flame.When spring comes north, and flowersunfold from earth and its even sleep,you lift summer on with your breathlest it be lost ever so deep.Your life you live by the light you findand follow it on as well as you can,carrying through darkness wherever you goyour one little fire that will start again.~ William Stafford