Celebrating Thanksgiving History
 

Thanksgiving, as a holiday, had its beginnings on November 29, 1623, when Massachusetts Governor William Bradford proclaimed that the Pilgrims were "...to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings." Their first winter in the new country had been difficult. Half of their members had died. The next year, however, there was an abundant harvest, noteworthy of setting aside a time of thanks for their deliverance. Every school child in America can conjure up images of Indians and Pilgrims celebrating together. The festivities, in fact, lasted for three days and included prayers of thanks, sermons and songs of praise.

This event became somewhat of an annual observance. George Washington later proclaimed that the people of the United States were to set aside "...a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God..."

It was through the tireless efforts of Sarah Josephia Hale that Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the fourth Thursday in November to be the official "National Thanksgiving Day."

Sarah Hale was a magazine editor (Godey's Lady's Book) and author. Her best-known poem was "Mary Had A Little Lamb." So dedicated was she to her cause that she spent from 1828 to 1863 (almost 40 years) writing letters and campaigning for a national Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving was subsequently proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. In 1939 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt named the next to the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. In December 1941 an act of Congress declared the fourth Thursday in November as a national legal holiday.

Let us not forget, in the midst of turkey dinners and sweet potato pie, that there is greater meaning to our gatherings.

Article by Homesteader