The other side of Thanksgiving

What is the story behind Sarah Hale & Thanksgiving?

By Maritza M. Mejia

The story that we all know about the First Thanksgiving is the gathering celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New Land, Plymouth, in 1621.  But rarely do we talk about the advocate who make this event a Holiday in North America. Do you know who?

Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Letter-SarahHaletoLincoln.jpg

According to history, in the early 1800s, the only national holidays celebrated in the United States were George Washington's Birthday and Independence Day. It was until 1863 when Sarah Hale made history changed and advocated for making Thanksgiving a national holiday in the United States. How did it happen?

For decades, Sarah Hale wrote letters to five Presidents of the United States: Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Abraham Lincoln. 

Her initial letters failed to persuade the presidents; however, the letter she wrote to Lincoln convinced him to support legislation establishing a national holiday of Thanksgiving in 1863. 

Thanksgiving was celebrated only when Sarah Hale began her crusade to make it a national holiday.

What had happened without Hale’s persistence? 

The new national holiday was considered a unifying day after the stress of the American Civil War. 

Let's celebrate with family and friends leaving behind divisions.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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