Sarah Josepha Hale and Thanksgiving

 Sarah Josepha Hale

“...littered with the remains of the Wampanoags, who had been decimated years earlier by a plague brought over by European fishermen”

Christopher Columbus... 80% killed by diseases.

http://thefreedomskool.blogspot.com/2014/11/native-american-foods-foods-that.html

Gonerrhea

Syphilis

Smallpox. G and S are STD's... De Soto, Pizarro, Cortez, Columbus, John Smith, and the rest, spread their STD's to the native Americans... by raping the native Americans. They were murdering, pillaging, and raping the natives. That's what the European invaders did. That's biological warfare. That's dishonoring a woman's body. And even the native Americans didn't rape the white women they captured and held as prisoners. The native Americans didn't murder elderly, women, and children while they slept, like the 1637 Thanksgiving celebration of the Mystic Massacre during the Pequot War. The brutality, the savagery, the barbarity of the European invaders pales in comparison the native Americans.

And folks may say, well, you wouldn't be here if that didn't happen, and even if that's true, half of my ancestry came from Prussia in 1869, so half of my bloodlines can't even claim the Civil War, let alone the War of 1812, or Henry Clay, or American Revolution, or the Spanish conquistidors, or the goddamned Pilgrims. The Pilgrims don't move me.

So don't give me that bullshit about most of the natives being killed by diseases. 10 to 100 million native Americans were wiped out, and native Americans have been here for 10,000 years... and fk'n Klotter, saying that even that natives were immigrants... bitch, they've been here for 10,000 years, compared to America's 240 years, and Kentucky's 220 years. That means, in the totality of human history on the American continent, native Americans have been here 98% of the time, and European immigrants, only 2%. 2%... that's it. 2% fk'n percent, so to pretend like the native Americans don't have a higher moral threshold than us is ridiculous. Europeans took this land over

And there can't be justice on stolen land. We need to bury the hatchet with the native Americans, and with Black folks. I think reparations is one good way, but shit, I'd settle for just a goddamned apology, and acknowledgement of who they were and are and what they stood for.

And folks might get on me about all of this, but you don't see the consequences today? Today, America is an Empire, 900 military bases in 150 countries... 1 million genocided in Iraq... Israel keeps on stealing Palestinian lands. Some folks say about America losing her innocence. Shit. America never had any innocence to begin with. We were birthed in bloodshed. Our origin story is a slaughterfest of Injuns. We've been imperialistic from the onset, stealing other people's lands. What happens when the Empire collapses, or there's no more lands to colonize, people to exploit, raw materials to steal? How will the American business model hold up?

The point of learning history, at least to the late Howard Zinn, the author of the People's History of the United States, is to find those few individuals who courageously stood against all odds, and succeeded. There's lots of dreadful things that have happened throughout all of history, and while those stories need to be told and remembered, so that we don't repeat history, that's not the point of history. The point of history is to root out those individuals, such as Willis Russell of Owen County, Simon Girty, the Weather Underground, and Sarah Josepha Hale.

Sarah Josepha Hale

America's modern day Thanksgiving comes from Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation, in order to try to unite Americans under one common banner story, and then eventually, the story about the Pilgrims were added, the Thanksgiving dinner, the food items we today associate with this supposed holiday... were put in place by a little woman named Sarah Josepha Hale. Abraham Lincoln only proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving in the middle of the Civil War due to the efforts of Sarah Josepha Hale's 20 years of lobbying. Sarah Josepha Hale wrote to 4 other sitting Presidents, starting in 1846. Sarah Josepha Hale wrote letters to Zachary Taylor, Millard Filmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan, before Abraham Lincoln eventually liked the idea, and declared Thanksgiving a national holiday, that was celebrated annually, from 1863, up until today.

Ol Honest Abe was in the midst of a great bloody Civil War, because Americans were desperately in need of unity and inspiration. Hence, the myth of the first Thanksgiving was born to inspire and unite. Our modern celebrations date back only to 1863; not until the 1890s did the Pilgrims get included in the tradition; no one even called them ‘Pilgrims’ until the 1870s.

Her final letter to Lincoln on the subject was mailed on September 28th, 1863.  After reading it and thinking it over, on October 3rd, 1863, Lincoln decided to declare the last Thursday in November as a national Thanksgiving holiday, which it became that same year.  Prior to this, the only national holidays that existed in the U.S. were Independence Day and Washington’s birthday.  From that point on until the point when congress officially set the date of Thanksgiving into U.S. law in 1941, every U.S. President, with the exception of Roosevelt, would annually declare the last Thursday in November as a national holiday for giving thanks.

Roosevelt, as noted yesterday, declared the second to last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving in 1939, 1940, and 1941, in order to extend the shopping season.  Unfortunately, only about half of the states went along with him; most of the rest, excepting Texas, stuck with the tradition of the last Thursday in November.  Texas, on the other hand, decided to take both as a holiday.  This mess ultimately required congress to step in and officially set the date in October of 1941 to go into effect in 1942.  In true congressional form, the date they set was a compromise, being the fourth Thursday, which was sometimes the last and sometimes the second to last.

Sarah Josepha Hale was a remarkable woman, and in spite of her being against women's right to vote, she raised the bar of what women could achieve by example through her long rapsheet of accomplishments.

“Mary Had a Little Lamb” [sing it]. Sarah Josepha Hale sang this.

SJH was the editor of two of the most successful magazines in the United States: The Ladies Magazine, and Godey's Lady's Book.

SJH...

-wrote “Northwood: Life North and South”, one of the first books that dealt directly with slavery as a central part of the plot and also one of the few books written by a woman, at the time in America. She wrote this book shortly after her husband died leaving her with very little money and five kids to raise.

After his death, she started and ran a millinery business (making hats for women) to support her family; raised the kids; and published a book of poems for extra money called “The Genius of Oblivion and Other Original Poems.” This book was initially only marginally successful, but it was enough to allow her to stop having to make hats and to focus on writing a novel.

Her novel Northwood ended up being extremely successful and was eventually read by the Reverend John Blake, headmaster of the Cornhill School for Young Ladies.  He was so impressed by her work that he offered her a position as the editor of a women’s magazine he was starting called The Ladies Magazine.  This made her the first ever female editor of a magazine in the United States. She held this position for eight years before the magazine eventually merged with Godey’s Lady’s Book, which specifically targeted the magazine Hale worked at for acquisition because they wanted her as the editor of their journal. She held the position of editor for this journal for forty years. With no significant competitors in the United States and with her writing nearly half the content for each journal in the beginning, both Godey’s Lady’s Book and Hale had a surprising influence in the United States during her time as editor. Godey’s published on a huge range of topics, not just specifically related to women, but also such random things as housing design, with many of Godey’s architectural house plans being popularly used by builders all over the country. Architecture!

Hale’s influence can be seen all throughout the United States during her lifetime having a significant effect on how women dressed; what they cooked; what literature they read; how they conducted themselves morally, etc (sort of the Martha Stewart / Oprah of her day). She also tirelessly promoted education for women, eventually even helping to found Vassar College.  The idea of a women’s college, at the time, was not looked upon favorably in the United States, as formal education for women was still something frowned upon on the whole. Also, controversially, she convinced Vassar to hire a female administrator and female teachers, something that was also almost never done at the time.

In her spare time, she helped found the Seaman’s Aid Society in 1833 in Boston which is an organization that helps women obtain useful job skills and also helps to support them by giving them a place to live and food to eat while they attempt to establish themselves.  Originally, this society was started to help those women whose husbands were lost at sea, leaving the surviving women and children typically destitute.

If that isn’t enough, she published nearly fifty volumes outside of what she produced for the journal she was editor for.  These works were comprised of various novels and books of poetry.  One such poetry book, targeted at children, produced the ever popular “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, which was originally just called “Mary’s Lamb”. On the side, she also edited several issues of popular gift book: The Opal.

And on women's right to vote, while I disagree with her, I believe in women's sufferage, her explanation I can't negate. It's logical. Sarah Josepha Hale believed that American women were the morality of the nation.

Interestingly, much to the chagrin of suffragists, while Hale was a tireless supporter of women’s rights, particularly the right to an education and the right to work outside of the home, she openly did not support the right for women to vote.

Her reasoning was that politics were all about trickery, lying, deceit, and anger.  In her view, women should strive to be above such things, being the moral compass for their families and, combined, for the nation itself. She felt that it was sufficient for women to influence political outcomes positively through being this moral compass for their husbands.  Thus, staying out of politics directly while still being a “secret, silent influence” indirectly affecting the political arena. Getting directly involved in politics, in her view, would only serve to pollute the women’s morals, which would ultimately hurt the nation when there was no longer anyone who was moral. 

• in 1877 Thomas Edison recorded Hale’s children’s poem Mary Had a Little Lamb with his phonograph, making it the first recording ever. She died two years later on April 30, 1879 at the 91 years old.
• Hale was a big part of getting the Bunker Hill Monument built.  At one point, construction stalled due to lack of funds. When this happened, she asked each of her readers to donate one dollar towards the cause. She also organized a craft fair that lasted a week in Quincy Market.  Through these efforts, she raised $30,000 (about 3/4 of a million dollars today), which ultimately allowed the monument to be finished.  Similar efforts and editorials by her were also used to help get Mount Vernon preserved.
• Hale’s parents both believed women should be educated and saw to it that Sarah received an education, even though she wasn’t able to actually formerly attend school.  Rather, her parents home-schooled her in the beginning.  Her advanced education was handled by her brother, Haratio.  When Horatio attended Dartmouth, he’d come home and teach her what he’d learned that day and, once he had done so, they’d study together.
• When her brother Haratio was awarded a diploma from Dartmouth, he awarded Sarah with a diploma from the Horatio Gates Buel College and declared that she had graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in the Arts.
• Sarah’s love for learning continued throughout her life and was reciprocated by David Hale, a lawyer, whom she eventually married in 1813 at the age of 25 years old.  David Hale died of pneumonia just nine years after they got married (1822), leaving Sarah and their five children to fend for themselves.
• Interestingly, despite being the queen of fashion in her day, Hale only wore clothes that were black for the vast majority of her life.  This was done as a sign of perpetual mourning over the loss of her husband.  From his death on, for 67 years, she wore only black.
• Hale heavily campaigned for Elizabeth Blackwell to be able to become a doctor.  At the time, there had never been a female doctor in America.  With the help of Hale and others, Blackwell was ultimately allowed to become a physician.
• Hale also was a big supporter of people getting plenty of exercise and kids being allowed to play and made to stay in shape. As she stated,  “Physical health and its attendant cheerfulness promote a happy tone of moral feeling, and they are quite indispensable to successful intellectual effort.”

Michelle Obama, Martha Stewart, Oprah...

Sarah Josepha Hale didn't just get the national day of Thanksgiving passed into law, she kept adding to the holiday, mostly by adding recipes to cook.

As the editor of a magazine called “Godey’s Lady’s Book', Sarah Josepha Hale came across Edward Winslow’s writings about the feast in the 1840s. When this editor, Sarah Josepha Hale, read Winslow’s writings, she decided to bring this historic celebration back to life. Up until then, Thanksgiving was only a regional New England holiday and wasn’t celebrated across the country like it is today. Hale began publishing recipes and articles about the feast.

Shortly after, in 1854, Hale heard about William Bradford’s book, Of Plimouth Plantation, which had gone missing during the Siege of Boston during the American Revolutionary War and resurfaced in the library of Fulham Palace in London that year. Hale focused her attention on the brief sentence about the colonist’s hunt for wild turkeys that fall: “And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc,” William Bradford wrote. Despite the fact that Bradford never stated they ate turkey at the Thanksgiving feast, Hale started publishing articles about Thanksgiving dinners with roasted turkey and the two became synonymous. For Sarah Josepha Hale, having Turkey at Thanksgiving was absolutely essential. Today, I was told to have a Happy Turkey Day. Obama served Turkey. Obama pardoned a Turkey.

Bradford also mentioned Lobster, and Cod, and Indian corn, and succotash... we only know there was 5 white tailed deer at that 1621 military alliance and land acquisition celebration;

Hale’s contributions to Thanksgiving didn’t stop there. She wrote numerous editorials that were widely circulated outlining various recipes to be used for Thanksgiving dinner.  These included many things that were not served at the original Thanksgiving, but today are traditional largely thanks to her, such as: turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes.

Lobster, Eel, Hominy, Indian corn, Cod, Succotash...

An old native American proverb is that when you speak the name of the dead, to the Earth, they are still alive. So...

RIP Miantonomo

RIP Wituwamat

RIP Massasoit

RIP Squanto

RIP Wamsutta

RIP Sassacus

RIP Tecumseh

RIP Cornstalk

RIP Pontiac

RIP Moluntha

RIP Sitting Bull

RIP Geronimo

RIP Crazy Horse

RIP Sacajawea

RIP Pocahontas

RIP Blue Jacket

RIP Red Stockings

RIP Black Hawk

RIP Dragging Canoe

RIP Chief Pluckimenotee

RIP Johnny Logan

RIP Hiawatha

RIP Metacomet RIP

Metacom’s dignity and steadfastness both impressed and frightened the settlers, who eventually demonized him as a menace that could not be controlled. For 13 years he kept the region’s towns and villages on edge with the fear of an Indian uprising.

Here's a letter written by Metacomet. It's not historically significant, but I'm going to read it now to bring Metacomet back to life, if only for just but a minute.

“Philip, Sachem of Mount Hope, (he could read English)
To Captain Hopestill Foster, of Dorchester,

Sendeth greeting:
SIR,—You may please to remember that when I last saw you, at Wading River, you promised me six pounds in goods. Now my request is that you would send by this Indian five yards of white or light-colored serge to make me a coat, and a good Holland shirt, ready made, and a pair of good Indian Breeches, all which I have present need of. Therefore I pray, Sir, fail not to send them, and the several prices of them, and silk and buttons, and seven yards of galloon for trimming. Not else at present to trouble you with, only the subscription of…
KING PHILIP, HIS MAJESTY, P.P.
“Mount Hope, the 15th of May, 1672.”