Remembering the woman behind Thanksgiving

Sarah Josepha Hale, the most accomplished woman journalist of her day, was removed from history by Thanksgiving Day 1863.

Forget the 1621 Pilgrim-Indian Harvest Festival. Not a day of prayer, and Indians regretted feeding them, as colonists took their lands.

Abraham Lincoln did not write the 1863 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, Secretary of State William H. Seward wrote it, and Lincoln signed it.

Like school prayer, a national day of prayer was not a new idea and not supported by either political party, as violating separation of church and state. After the Gettysburg battle victory, Lincoln — knowing political timing is everything — agreed with Sarah that a national day of prayer may bring all Americans together.

Jews historically would call that day, “Birkat Hagomel” (see Psalm 100), a day of thanksgiving for God saving us from disaster.

Sarah came from a New England family that believed all women had a right to an education and ownership of property. After her husband died, Sarah supported her five children by writing poetry and children’s books; famously, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

She became a writer, then editor, of the leading women’s magazine, Godey’s Lady’s Book. Beginning in 1846, Sarah began lobbying for a national Day of Thanksgiving.

I am surprised her name was largely lost to history, and few recognized her for her contribution to women journalists.

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