Sarah Josepha Hale: the Godmother of Thanksgiving in America

Most of us know the tale of the first Thanksgiving in which pilgrims and Native Americans shared a sumptuous feast to celebrate the harvest. But have you ever heard of Sarah Josepha Hale, sometimes called the Godmother of Thanksgiving? Without this remarkable 19th-century American, Thanksgiving may not have ever become a national holiday.

Born in New Hampshire in 1788, Sarah Josepha Hale grew up celebrating Thanksgiving, which at the time was a holiday only recognized in some New England states. As a widow with five children, she started supporting her family by writing articles, short stories and novels and became the first American woman to serve as a magazine editor.

After becoming a successful writer and editor, Hale began a campaign to make Thanksgiving a nation-wide holiday. She wrote countless editorials and letters to politicians arguing that a national holiday of Thanksgiving could help unify the country at a time when tensions were rising between the North and the South. She also published recipes and encouraged Americans to celebrate the holiday with foods like turkey and pumpkin pie, which eventually became traditional Thanksgiving dishes.

In 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, Hale wrote directly to President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln liked Hale’s idea of a national day of Thanksgiving designed to bring the country together, and on October 3, 1863, he declared the last Thursday of November Thanksgiving Day. (It was later changed to the fourth Thursday in November.) Since then, Thanksgiving has remained a quintessential American holiday.