Benjamin Franklin actually wanted the Turkey to be the national bird of the United States of America, but his idea never caught on. Sara J. Hale, an American magazine editor and author of the children’s nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” persuaded President Abraham Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. President Lincoln went on to issue a Thanksgiving Proclamation on October 3, 1863 that set aside the last Thursday of November as a National Day of Thanksgiving. In 1939 President Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving from November 30 to November 23 in an effort to spur economic growth and extend the Christmas shopping season. Congress finally passed a law on December 26, 1941 making Thanksgiving a national holiday to be celebrated the fourth Thursday of November each year. Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented a live Turkey and two dressed turkeys to the President of the United States. The President does not eat the live turkey but “pardons” it, and the turkey lives out the rest of its days on an historical farm.
What is your most treasured Thanksgiving memory?
What is your most treasured Thanksgiving memory?
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