Wednesday; November 25
Sarah Josepha Hale is known for several things, but two of them seem to stand out above the rest. Hale may be best known for penning the poem, “Mary Had A Little Lamb”; but her influence may be most obviously felt on the last Thursday of each November. Among those associated with developing a national day of Thanksgiving, Hale’s name is quite prevalent. For over a decade she led the campaign for a president to enact a national day of thanks, but it wasn’t until President Abraham Lincoln did it in 1863 that it became a part of the national calendar. Those of us who enjoy Thanksgiving probably owe her (and President Lincoln) a word of thanks. As I was reading up on Mrs. Hale, I came across an interesting quote attributed to her, “I’ve learned to judge of men by their own deeds; I do not make the accident of birth the standard of their merit.”. Now, before we get too deep into the weeds on this, I am not advocating that people’s birth and entrance into the world is an accident or