I have a new hero. It is Sarah Josepha Hale.
Ahead of her time, here are five ways this lady changed the world!! No, really!!
Five ways Sarah changed the world
5. Sarah Josepha Hale created the nursery rhyme MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB
4. As editor of the Godey’s Lady’s book she covered everything from women’s education to child rearing and Sarah Josepha Hale was one of the most influential voices in the 19th century.
3. She was a committed advocate for women’s education and helped create Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
2. Sarah Josepha Hale used her platform to support causes like abolishing slavery, and preserving George Washington’s home.
1.Along with the help of Abraham Lincoln, (my ancestral relation-but that’s another story) she used her writings to support the creation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday. HOW COOL IS THAT?????
Living History
This Family was fortunate to be invited to Heritage Square in Oxnard to partake in a special Thanksgiving living history event.
It was simple enough. A staged interview with Connie of The Heritage Harmony Players who brilliantly played Sarah Joseph Hale. We listened as she told her tale of her extraordinary life and her relentless forty year pursuit to make Thanksgiving a National Holiday.
How it Began
In 1827 Hale published a novel, Northwood: A Tale of New England. In it was a chapter about the New England tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving to Heal a Nation
Hale saw Thanksgiving as a means of unifying the nation. She believed that it could ease growing tensions between the north and south. By 1854 over 30 states celebrated Thanksgiving but Sarah wouldn’t be satisfied until all states celebrated.
In her publications she urged Americans to ‘put aside sectional feelings and local incidents’ to rally around the unifying cause of Thanksgiving.
I LOVE THIS!!!!
Present Day
This Thanksgiving we find our Nation again divided politically and socially and well just about every way I can think of.
There is SO much more I’d love to share about this extraordinary woman but today I want to focus on her sentiment of Thanksgiving being a day to celebrate American Independence and being thankful for it.
So Inspired
I am so inspired by this single mother, this entrepreneur, this patriot who relentlessly pursued the creation of a National Holiday to put all else aside and come together to give thanks.
THANK YOU SARAH! I will toast you with cider this year and do my best to carry on your work because there is always a reason to celebrate and saying Thank You NEVER goes out of style!
CLICK HERE FOR AN ENTIRE DEPARTMENT DEDICATED TO BOOKS BY SARAH AND ABOUT SARAH.
FREE Thanksgiving Table Talker Game for You
Just click on the photo and download your printable THANKSGIVING TABLE TALKERS!!
A very interesting post. Something never heard of
I’m so glad you thought so too! Its becoming my new mission in life to bring light to these stories. 🙂
Wow! This is great, I have never heard of her but she seems like a woman ahead of her time.
Wow! That’s fascinating! What an intriguing woman. Thank you for sharing!
What a fascinating woman! Your article makes history more meaningful. Thanks for sharing.
I loved this post! I’m originally from Argentina, and I love to learn new things about this beautiful country and its history! Thanks for sharing!
Well Flor, you’ve come to the right blog! LOL You’ll learn lots of fun stuff here!
I never knew this! She sounds like a great woman, would have loved to have met her.
right?? She was amazing! Meeting Connie was a good substitute 🙂
Wow!! I had never heard about this woman before yet it seems she made a huge impact in her lifetime.
Living history is so cool! That must have been such a fun trip!
Wow, I had no idea! I’ve never heard of her. As a teacher, this is great new and interesting information for me. Great informative post!
That is so cool!!! I had no idea! Thank You for sharing this information, I will pass it on to my daughters.
I never heard this before. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Such a fascinating woman! Thanks so much for sharing her story.
Learning about our history in this country is so fascinating. This is great way to learn through live telling. So fun.
It seems to be my new mission in life…. celebrating the FASCINATING and often forgotten history of our amazing nation. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Love this! “Thank you never goes out of style!”
Indeed. 🙂
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. I’m going to pin it to my homeschool board.
That’s wonderful! You might also like to read about these fabulous ladies: https://thisfamilyblog.com/espionage-sabotage-defiance-and-other-girly-things/
What a very interesting and awesome lady! I had no idea, but now I want to learn more about Sarah Josepha Hale!
Click on any of the picture links to see her books and a couple kid books about her. She is FASCINATING!
Wow! What an amazing woman.
What a fun and educational experience! I didn’t know about the godmother of Thanksgiving, so this was very interesting. Yay for strong women leading the way!
YES! You might like my recent article https://thisfamilyblog.com/espionage-sabotage-defiance-and-other-girly-things/
VERY cool ladies and their extraordinary stories!
Yay indeed! You’d probably enjoy https://thisfamilyblog.com/espionage-sabotage-defiance-and-other-girly-things/ as well
What a great place to visit and learn. Living history and reenactments help us to learn. Looks like a great place to go.
I love the Thanksgiving history! As a teacher, I will be sharing this with my students.
Noelle, I was given a readers theater play and will be happy to share it with you! My daughter is doing it with her class too! Want to send me your email?
Wow! This is something I haven’t heard anything about. She is such an amazing woman. Thanks for sharing.
What an amazing woman. Perfect information for this homeschooling family. I would love to learn more about your Lincoln connection too. We just visited to Mary Todd-Lincoln home in August.
I actually was given a reader’s theater play about all this! if you want to send me your email I will gladly share it with you!!!
I have never heard of this. I love learning things like this. I might just have to investigate into this more and read the book for Thanksgiving.
There’s a couple of links up above to her books. She is absolutley fascinating!
Very interesting! I had no idea about this so it was quite interesting to learn. Thank you!
I’m glad you liked it! I like to write about little known history. 🙂
Wow, new to me too! And she was wayyyy ahead of her time, which is pretty darn cool! Thanks for the history lesson 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it! She’s a new hero!
Wow, I never have heard of any of this! Thank you so much for getting this out there!
Isn’t it fun!!??
So cool – this is all new to me! I love learning interesting history like this. Thanks for sharing.
Isn’t it? It was all new to me too!!! I was a little floored really! But I love it!!!