Remembrance and Gratitude. The Evolution of the Thanksgiving Holiday

Do you know what Mary Had a Little Lamb and Thanksgiving have in common?

Let’s look at why…

Sarah Hale was born on October 24, 1788 in Newport, New Hampshire and was an American writer, activist, and editor of the most widely circulated magazine in the period before the Civil War. In 1827, her first novel was published and made Hale one of the first female novelists to not only publish but to write a book that addressed slavery.

While she was editing and writing, she also tirelessly advocated for 36 years for the creation of a national Thanksgiving Day. Hale began that campaign in 1827 and over decades, wrote numerous letters to politicians and governors as well as editorials to gain support for the idea. Her persistent efforts, including a final letter to President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, led to the first official national Thanksgiving holiday being declared by proclamation during the Civil War in 1863.

Prior to Hale’s efforts, from the time of the Founding Fathers, the Thanksgiving day observance varied and was observed on differing dates determined by individual state governors, resulting in festivities taking place during any autumn month and in some cases as late as March. It became customary in much of the northeast that Thanksgiving celebrations were held on the final Thursday in November to coincide with Evacuation Day, commemorating the day the British exited New York City at the end of the Revolutionary War on November 25, 1783.

Hale envisioned Thanksgiving as a unifying celebration of national pride, family life, patriotism and gratitude which became even more needed during the time of great division in the country, during the Civil War. It would also seem that is what she envisioned for Thanksgiving and why it may be just as relevant and needed in today’s world.

In October 1863, President Abraham Lincoln answered the call and issued a proclamation to set a single national Thanksgiving Day, inviting citizens to “set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving.” He set this day to celebrate even in the midst of war and called on the American people: "with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience ... [to] fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation...." It is interesting to note, and not surprising, that because of the ongoing Civil War, a nationwide Thanksgiving celebration was not actually realized until Reconstruction in the 1870s. Then, on October 31, 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a presidential proclamation changing the holiday from the last Thursday in November, to the next to last Thursday in November.

So coming back to Mary Had a Little Lamb… Sarah Hale was not only instrumental in establishing our national Thanksgiving holiday, she is also notable for her book, Poems for Our Children, which was published in 1830 and was the first place where the poem Mary Had a Little Lamb was printed. Regarding authorship, there has been considerable debate as to whether she or others authored the original poem. Sarah’s book nevertheless brought that now famous poem to the public.

In researching Sarah’s relentless pursuit of the establishment of a national Thanksgiving holiday, it gave me pause to remember and have gratitude for the many bold and strong women whose perseverance drove and continue to drive significant change in our country. I am grateful for the courage they exhibit and the lessons in gratitude and remembrance that we can learn from them.

I close with a quote from another well known American female author, Gertrude Stein, who famously stated "Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone." It is in this spirit that I encourage us all this Thanksgiving season and every day, to be bold and relentless in remembering and showing/sharing gratitude for others and with others early and often.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Sources:
Norwood, Arlisha. "Sarah Hale." National Women's History Museum. National Women's History Museum, 2017. Date accessed.

Thanksgiving Holiday : One Woman's Crusade. National Women’s History Museum, 2015.
https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/thanksgiving-holiday-one-womans-crusade

Boston Literary History
https://www.bostonliteraryhistory.com/chapter-4/sarah-josepha-hale-1788–1879-“mary’s-lamb”-poems-our-children-designed-families-sabbath.html

The American Presidency Project
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/analyses/evolution-the-thanksgiving-proclamation

Researched and written by Susan Flack
(Read at HSOY’s annual Thanksgiving Ecumenical Service at Kelley Chapel on November 23, 2025)