The Answer:

The inscription on the tablet in her left hand reads:

July IV, MDCCLXXVI

This is the date the Declaration of Independence was signed, expressed in roman numerals.

Emma Lazarus' famous poem about welcoming immigrants, which begins "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." is inscribed on a bronze tablet that hangs inside the statue's pedestal.

—The Editors