You might be accustomed to giving thanks on Thanksgiving Day, but have you thought about who to thank for making that day a holiday? In case you’re wondering, you owe a hearty thank-you to a woman you’ve probably never heard of. Meet Sarah Josepha Hale—editor, author, activist, and the one-woman campaign machine responsible for making Thanksgiving a national holiday. She’s also the reason we had to memorize “Mary Had a Little Lamb” in kindergarten, but we’ll get to that later.

Hale’s Early Years

Born in 1788 in Newport, New Hampshire, to parents with surprisingly progressive views on education (for the 18th century, anyway), Sarah Josepha Buell grew up immersed in learning. Her mother homeschooled her. Her brother, Horatio, passed along his Ivy League knowledge from Dartmouth. So, yes, Sarah basically got a bootleg Ivy League education at the family dinner table. Take that, legacy admissions.

She married lawyer David Hale in 1813, had five children, and then lost him in 1822. She donned a black dress, wore it for the rest of her life (as one does when one invents goth before it was cool), and got to work supporting her family by writing. Widow? Yes. Helpless? Absolutely not.

Mary Had a Little Rhyme Scheme

In 1830, Sarah penned a sweet little poem about a girl and her lamb—Mary Had a Little Lamb—which made her a household name long before Spotify and TikTok. Later, the poem became immortalized when Thomas Edison used it as the first recording on his fancy new phonograph. In other words, Hale is the godmother of both Thanksgiving and the mixtape. Bow down.

The Rise of the Editress

Sarah’s real superpower wasn’t just poetry—it was publishing. In 1828, she became editor (or as she preferred, “editress”) of Ladies’ Magazine, which sounds tame but was basically the Vogue of 19th-century America. In 1837, she merged her magazine with Godey’s Lady’s Book, where she remained editor for the next 40 years. Yes, forty. That’s commitment for you.

Under her leadership, the magazine exploded in popularity, becoming the most widely circulated periodical of its time. Hale used her platform not for fashion tips or celebrity gossip (although we bet she had opinions), but to promote women’s education, professional work, and moral reform. She was like a 19th-century influencer, only instead of selling protein powder, she was pushing gender equality and classical literature.

Hale the Trailblazer: Women’s Advocate and Educator

Sarah didn’t just want women to read—she wanted them to learn, think, and lead. She championed higher education for women when most institutions were still side-eyeing the idea of women reading anything more complex than embroidery instructions. She helped raise funds to build Vassar College and was a fierce advocate for female teachers, even suggesting they could replace men in public schools. (She was not wrong.)

She also supported the Bunker Hill Monument and the preservation of George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, proving that she wasn’t just about educating the living—she cared about honoring the dead, too. We imagine she would’ve made a killer historical consultant for Hamilton.

Thanksgiving: The Holiday That Took 17 Years of Nagging

Now, let’s talk turkey. Sarah Josepha Hale’s pièce de résistance—the thing she is most famously responsible for—is convincing the federal government to create a national Thanksgiving holiday. And she did it the old-fashioned way: with relentless nagging.

In the style of Anna Jarvis, who championed the creation of Mother’s Day (and then lobbied to get rid of it), she wrote letters. So many letters. Five presidents worth, to be exact. From Zachary Taylor to Abraham Lincoln, she pestered the nation’s top brass for seventeen years, suggesting that setting aside a day of thanks could unite the country during turbulent times. Finally, in 1863, Lincoln gave in. Mid-Civil War, he issued a proclamation establishing the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.

Was it coincidence? Was it Hale? Either way, she earned the unofficial title of “Mother of Thanksgiving,” which honestly sounds like a title you’d win in a gladiator pit but was more about endurance and excessive correspondence.

But Wait, There’s More: Hale the Novelist

In case you were thinking this woman rested after inventing poetry, editing a mega-magazine, promoting women’s rights, and strong-arming Thanksgiving into existence, think again. She also wrote novels.

Her first, Northwood, was published in 1827 and tackled the ever-so-light subject of slavery. That’s right—Sarah Josepha Hale was one of the first American women to write a novel about the issue, and she didn’t exactly pull punches. She condemned slavery while still advocating for colonization (as in sending freed slaves to Liberia), a viewpoint that’s controversial by today’s standards but progressive in its time. And did we mention this was published a full 30 years before the Civil War broke out? Let’s just say Hale wasn’t afraid of a little controversy. Or a lot.

Legacy: More Than Just a Nursery Rhyme

Sarah Josepha Hale died in 1879 at the age of 90, having changed American culture in more ways than we can count on one hand. She left behind:

• A beloved nursery rhyme known the world over
• A national holiday that’s basically a carbs-and-gratitude extravaganza
• One of the most influential women’s magazines in U.S. history
• A legacy of advocacy for women’s education and professional equality

All this from a self-educated widow in an era when women couldn’t even vote. Sarah Josepha Hale didn’t just break the glass ceiling—she wrote editorials about why it needed to be smashed and then probably asked Abraham Lincoln to help sweep up the pieces.

Fun Fact Department Bonus Round

• She edited Godey’s Lady’s Book until she was 89. That’s right. The woman worked until literally one year before she died. That’s not retirement; that’s a literary Ironman triathlon.
• She was the first to suggest Mount Vernon be preserved as a national shrine. So if you’ve ever taken a tour there and bought a $12 keychain at the gift shop, thank Hale.
• She was pro-pumpkin pie before it was cool. Her Thanksgiving writings waxed poetic about seasonal dishes, laying the groundwork for food blogs a century too early.

In Conclusion: Hail, Hale

Sarah Josepha Hale is a national treasure—and not in the Nicolas Cage, steal-the-Constitution sense. Her legacy lives on in every slice of pumpkin pie, every women’s college, every child reciting “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and every stubborn woman who refuses to take no for an answer. So this Thanksgiving, maybe raise a glass to the woman who gave us the day—and who made America just a little more literate, a little more grateful, and a whole lot more interesting.

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