This year, as we give thanks around a table filled with the delectable food, please take a moment to think about the origins of the holiday. The pilgrims celebrated a Day of Thanks by fasting. George Washington called for a similar day in 1789. Our present American celebration has roots in the activism of one New Hampshire born woman, Sarah Josepha Hale. Widowed at a young age, she was “discovered,” due to her many poems and her brand new novel, at the time, Northwood.
With her five young children, she left for Boston to take the position of editor of Ladies Magazine. For years, she labored intensely to have the president of the United States declare an official Thanksgiving Day. President Abraham Lincoln agreed to proclaim such an annual holiday.
Of course, in the interest of time and space, I am leaving out a lot of details.
“N.H. Native Envisions Thanksgiving!” is an article that I wrote for Unravel the Gavel newspaper, November 17, 2006 (Volume 17, Number 10). As best I could, within the scope of available space, I have described Sarah Josepha Hale’s life.
This paper is available by subscription, and is also free to pick up at select antique stores in New England area. The article includes very special copies of colorplate illustrations from Godey’s Lady’s Book, the publication which Hale edited until two years before her death (at 91).
When I give thanks this year, I will remember my wonderful editors. They follow a long line of strong women who made a difference in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and are continuing to be the voice of women today. By their editorials and selections for content, they serve as trend setters, and the social conscience of our society.
Sarah Josepha Buell Hale: just one woman, but what an impact! Remember her kindly as you “break bread together.” The index page of our website now features a song that is appropriate for Thanksgiving, and information about a contemporary of Hale who gave us a Thanksgiving poem.
Pat