While in office, Presidents George Washington, John Adams, and James Madison all proclaimed national days of Thanksgiving, but in the years that followed, the majority of these celebrations were restricted to specific states or territories. Journalist Sarah Josepha Hale, a fervent supporter of a holiday to unify the nation, began pushing for Thanksgiving in 1846.

Hale was a hugely influential author who spent 40 years as the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book magazine. Hale also advocated for women’s access to higher education and established numerous philanthropic endeavors, including Mount Vernon in Virginia’s preservation and the completion of Massachusetts’ Bunker Hill Monument. Today, she is primarily recognized for penning the poem that became “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

She persistently pushed for the holiday from 1846 and 1863, sending letters to presidents, representatives, and governors in every state. When she was unable to contact several states during the Civil War, her campaign stalled. However, she finally wrote to Secretary of State William Seward asking him to intervene with President Lincoln because she needed a fresh plan of action. In response to Seward’s support for her idea, Hale wrote to Lincoln. After the Union’s victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in the summer of 1863, Lincoln expressed his gratitude to Hale by issuing a proclamation on October 3, 1863, declaring Thanksgiving as a national holiday to be observed on the fourth Thursday in November, following Washington’s Birthday and Independence Day.