Nor need we power or splendor, wide hall or lordly dome;
the good, the true, the tender -- these form the wealth of home.
--Sarah Josepha Hale
When you sit down at the table tomorrow, surrounded by loved ones and plates of your bountiful harvest, with words of gratitude dripping from your gravy-soaked tongue, remember to tip your glass in honor of Sarah Josepha Hale.
Who, you might ask? Well, none other than the Godmother of Thanksgiving.
Hale died in 1879 at the age of 90, but if she were alive today, she’d be considered an influencer. She’d go by SJH or SaHa. She’d have a website, a podcast, a magazine, a book deal, and a million followers on Instagram. She was Ina Garten meets Oprah meets Brene Brown.
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| SJH |
The bulk of her career was spent in Philadelphia as the editor for Godey’s Lady’s Book. The publication was a bit of a big deal back then. It was Good Housekeeping, Bon Appetit, and Vogue rolled into one. Without a rival, it had a massive readership for its day. When Americans, especially women, wanted to learn about taste, morality, cooking, fashion, literature, and architecture, they turned to Godeys. It was family focused and deeply religious. Hale, as editor for 40 years, had a huge impact on the American way of life.
Her role as editor allowed her to champion numerous causes such as the importance of play and physical education for children as well as higher education for women (she helped found Vassar College). She opposed slavery but did not support women’s suffrage. She rallied the nation to build a monument at Bunker Hill and she helped save Mount Vernon from desertion and demolition. Impressed yet? Her list of causes and accomplishments is too long for me to keep going. But here’s one more: this energizer bunny of a lady also found time to push for a national Thanksgiving holiday.
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| Hale's letter to Lincoln |
Thanksgiving wasn’t a unified celebration in Hale’s day. It was big in New England, but not so much in the south. Each state had its own holiday, ranging from October to January. Through her work in Godeys, she campaigned for a national holiday for Thanksgiving and Praise to commemorate the Pilgrims’ feast of 1621. But her campaign took nearly two decades. She hit roadblocks and dead ends. She wrote to presidents Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and eventually Lincoln. In Lincoln, she found support. And in 1863 he dedicated the last Thursday in November to be a day of National Thanksgiving and Praise.
Hale wrote to Lincoln in September of 1863, just a few months after Gettysburg. I wonder what in Hale’s letter struck such a chord in Lincoln’s heart. Why did he respond favorably when his four predecessors gave her the cold mutton chops? Did she speak into his grief over the thousands of dead soldiers and the massive rift in the country? Or was it his longing for repentance over his perceived national perverseness and disobedience? How about his compassion for the newly widowed and orphaned? Or maybe his desire for the “beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens” to “heal the wounds of the nation”? Perhaps choice E: all of the above, for they all can be found in his Proclamation of Thanksgiving written less than a week after receiving Hale’s letter.
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| Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation |
Her letter doesn’t mention reasons to be thankful or the results of gratitude, but I think Hale and President Lincoln both understood the power behind day of unity for the nation and the internal peace that flows from a posture of gratitude. I bet it was a thankful heart that carried her through grief and the struggles of raising five children while also bringing home the bacon and the salted meats. I believe it was gratitude that propelled her to be a source of education and inspiration for women up and down the eastern seaboard.
I wonder what Hale and Lincoln would think about today’s headlines. A pair of wars dominate the news. Estimates of 40-50 million people are trapped in slavery worldwide. And the American states seem about as un-united as they were during the years preceding the Civil War. Hale and Lincoln would have every right to think that nothing’s really changed.
But then we could point out how far their concept of a national holiday has come. A total of 87 percent of Americans say they celebrate Thanksgiving. An average of nine people will gather around dinner tables from Turkey Creek, AZ to Cranberry Township, PA. Americans will spend $1.2 billion on 46 million turkeys. Approximately 80 million people will travel 50 or more miles this weekend. I’d say their idea has taken off.
Our Thanksgiving traditions have massively morphed over the last 161 years. Parades, football, and shopping seem to overshadow its original purpose. But when you peel away all extra trappings that make up Thanksgiving in 2024, it’s still the same as it was in 1863 and 1621. Family and friends coming together, sharing a meal, and giving thanks for their blessings.
It doesn’t get any simpler, or better, than that.
I think SJH would be thrilled.
Happy Thanksgiving!
