Next week many celebrate Thanksgiving Day. A day when many people reflect on the last year with a thankful heart, despite the circumstances they are facing.
Did you know…
Thanksgiving was first proclaimed by President George Washington in 1789. President Thomas Jefferson choose not to celebrate Thanksgiving. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a federal holiday October 3, 1863.
“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”
–President Abraham Lincoln, October 3, 1863
The original, pen and ink, proclamation is public domain and available to view at our nation’s National Archives Catalog.