The writer behind Thanksgiving’s national push
The famous writing was “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Its author, Sarah Josepha Hale, was also a magazine editor who spent decades urging the United States to observe Thanksgiving on the same day nationwide. In the 19th century, states and communities held their autumn celebrations on different dates—or not at all—so a shared holiday was not yet a settled national custom.
Hale used her magazine and repeated appeals to presidents and other officials to argue that a common day of gratitude could help bind the country together. Her campaign reached Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. In 1863, he proclaimed a national Thanksgiving observance for that November, giving the holiday a lasting place on the federal calendar.
A holiday decree, not a turkey requirement
The proclamation established a day of observance; it did not make eating turkey a legal obligation. Turkey had already become associated with Thanksgiving meals, but Hale’s campaign centered on establishing the holiday, not prescribing its menu. The distinction matters: a familiar tradition may grow around a national occasion without being written into the law that recognizes it.
Hale’s influence joined a popular seasonal meal to a newly national holiday. The next time Thanksgiving turkey appears to be an official requirement, remember the more precise story: the author of a children’s rhyme helped persuade a president to set aside the day, but what went on the table remained a matter for families.
