A Determined Woman = Thanksgiving

It turns out there is a strong woman behind Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Known as the “Mother of Thanksgiving“ Sarah Josepha Hale was a prominent writer (she wrote “Mary had a Little Lamb”) and editor, promoting women’s issues. In addition to her publishing work, Hale was a committed advocate for women’s education (including the creation of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York). She also raised funds to construct Massachusetts’s Bunker Hill Monument and save George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate.

The New Hampshire-born Hale had grown up regularly celebrating an annual Thanksgiving holiday. In 1827 she published a novel, Northwood: A Tale of New England, that included an entire chapter about the fall tradition. Hale often wrote editorials and articles about the holiday.

She lobbied state and federal officials to pass legislation creating a fixed, national day of thanks. Hale believed that such a unifying measure could help ease growing tensions and divisions between the northern and southern parts of the country. Her efforts paid off: By 1854, more than 30 states and U.S. territories had a Thanksgiving celebration on the books. But Hale’s vision of a national holiday remained unfulfilled.

As the Civil War broke, Hale urged Americans to “put aside sectional feelings and local incidents” and support the unifying cause of Thanksgiving. After Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in 1863, Hale wrote letters to President Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward. Hale asked for Thanksgiving to be “permanently, an American custom and institution.” Within a week, the Thanksgiving Proclamation was enacted.

The national observation of Thanksgiving is on the final Thursday in November. The two men hoped Thanksgiving would “heal the wounds of the nation.” It took more than 30 years, but Sarah fought faithfully for the unity and healing her beloved country needed.  

Many of us think of Thanksgiving as a celebration with family and friends. However, I hope you share the history of this persistent and determined woman at your Thanksgiving table.

I wonder what Sarah Hale would think of our country today?  We need Thanksgiving now, more than ever. We can do our part to help heal the division which hurts our democracy, and ultimately harms us. Let us lay down our anger and verbal weapons this week. Instead, celebrate the joy and beauty of Americanism. Share stories over the dinner table as to why you love your family, your community and your country. Let your love inspire others. And let us give profound thanks for the freedoms and rights we’ve been given as Americans. 

And thank you, Sarah Josepha Hale. What an admirable person, who did so much for women, for education and for our country.

Wishing you a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving from my home to yours.