Show washington ington was first to proclaim thanksgiving day but thank a woman for keeping 0 it alive ARGUMENT about the origin of thanksgiving day in the united states has been going on lo 10 I 1 these many years there are several answers and which of them is correct depends entirely upon the point of view we think of thanksgiving usually as an institution begun by the pilgrims without a doubt it was the pilgrims who were the first group of american people to cease work to observe a day of thanksgiving it was george washington as president who proclaimed the first national thanksgiving day it was sarah josepha hale editor ot of godels ladys book who foucht fought J 11 I 1 r S 1 SARA SAKA JOSEPHA HATE HALE for many years to have the national holiday revived as a regular annual celebration it was president abraham lincoln who issued the first national thanksgiving proclamation since jefferson reviving a practice that has been observed each year ever since by whatever president who happened to be in office am americas first official national thanksgiving day occurred on november 29 1789 or years after bradfordt Brad fords call upon the pilgrims to give thanks president washington proclaimed it at the request of a joint committee of both houses of congress who beseeched beseeches ched him to declare a day of thanks for the favors of god bestowed upon the new republic in his proclamation president washington said now therefore do I 1 recommend to the people of the united states a day of thanksgiving that we then may unite in rendering unto him our humble thanks for his kind care and J tion ion of this country previous to its becoming a nation for the favorable interposition of his providence in the course and conclusion of the late war for the great degree of tranquillity union and plenty which we have since enjoyed for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed bles sed and also that we may then unite and beseech him to promote virtue knowledge and the increase of science among us several more thanksgiving day proclamations were made in the following years then under jefferson they were forgotten but those sentiments of original proclamation became a creed generations erat ions later to sarah josepha hale editor of the highly influential godels ladys book the magazine with the quaint and colorful fashion prints which today decorate lamp shades and hang in picture frames in thousands of homes this cultured energetic little woman devoted a large share of her time to her plan to make thanksgiving day an annual national holiday she wrote literally thousands of personal letters to governors urging that their states unite in observing V a thanksgiving day she foresaw the coming of the civil war and she looked upon a national thanksgiving day uniformly celebrated by all of the states as conducive toward peace but it was not until after the war had started that she succeeded in obtaining a presidential proclamation from abraham lincoln A national proclamation has gone forth in each of the 74 years since that time if we are happy about it let us give thanks this thanksgiving to the farseeing far seeing editor of godels ladys book |