| This is part 8 of a number
of facts associated with THANKSGIVING. This is an all American holiday. Although the US
and Canada celebrate the day on different dates, the purpose is the same. |
Part 10One Woman's Crusade:
Thanksgiving might not be celebrated in the United States
today, were it not for a patient, persistent woman named Sarah Hale.
The first traditional Thanksgiving Day was celebrated by the Pilgrim Fathers in 1621 to
give thanks for their winter in the New World. The day continued to be observed
sporadically for may years. In 1789, President George Washington issued a Thanksgiving Day
Proclamation to commemorate the first Pilgrim celebration. But Thomas Jefferson, the third
president of the United States discontinued it, calling Thanksgiving, “a kingly
practice.”
After this, Thanksgiving was observed by some individual states, and on
whatever date suited their fancy. The date kind of bounced around until Sarah Josephia
Hale, the editor of a magazine called Godey's Lady's Book (a Victorian era Vogue) and
author of the poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb," embarked on a 30-year crusade to
make Thanksgiving a national holiday. She wrote letters and sought
appointments with national leaders from the President down beginning in 1928 and
continuing through 1863.. Time after time she was politely rebuffed, sometimes being told
it was "impossible" and "impractical," and sometimes being dismissed
with a this-is-none-of-your-business scolding. Finally in 1863 President Lincoln listened
seriously to her plea that North and South "lay aside enmities and strife on
(Thanksgiving) Day." He proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November to be the official
"National Thanksgiving Day." This day was finally ratified by the U.S. Congress
in 1941.
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