In 1897, The New York Sun was thought to be the most reputable paper....after all, if it is in The Sun it must be so. Francis P. (Frank) Church was the Editor. His response to the Letter to the Editor written by 8 year old Virginia O'Hanlon is one of the most famous editorials ever written. It first appeared in The New York Sun in December, 1897 and was reprinted annually until The Sun went out of business in 1949.
Text of the Editorial printed in The New York Sun in 1897:
We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:
Dear Editor --- I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O'Hanlon
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all of the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real or abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
In 1933, Virginia O'Hanlon recalled the events leading up to the now famous Letter to the Editor. When she questioned her father about the existance of Santa Claus, he was a little evasive, according to Ms O'Hanlon. At the time, there was a question and answer column in TheSun and it was her father's habit to write to the column when he had questions regarding historical fact or documentation. Virginia decided that she was going to write The Sun and find out the real truth. According to Ms Hanlon, her father's response was , "Go ahead, Virginia. I'm sure The Sun will give you the right answer, as it always does."
Frank Church, son of a Baptist minister and correspondent during the Civil War, had worked for The New York Sun for 20 years when he received the summons to respond to the letter from a little girl.. Frank Church died in 1906.
Virginia O'Hanlon graduated from Hunter College and received a Master's from Columbia in 1912. She began teaching in New York City, later becoming a principal for the NYC School System. She retired after 47 years as an educator. Virginia O'[Hanlon Douglas died on May 13, 1971 at the age of 81.
