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Happy Saturday! - Hope you have a great weekend!

Secretary of State William Seward wrote it, and Abraham Lincoln issued it, but much of the credit for the Thanksgiving Proclamation should probably go to a woman named Sarah Josepha Hale, according to History.

A prominent writer and editor, Hale had written the children's poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb," originally known as "Mary's Lamb," in 1830 and helped found the American Ladies Magazine, which she used as a platform to promote women's issues. In 1837, she was offered the editorship of Godey's Lady Book, where she would remain for more than 40 years, shepherding the magazine to a circulation of more than 150,000 by the eve of the Civil War and turning it into one of the most influential periodicals in the country.

In addition to her publishing work, Hale was a committed advocate for women's education (including the creation of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York) and raised funds to construct Massachusetts's Bunker Hill Monument and save George Washington's Mount Vernon estate.

The New Hampshire-born Hale had grown up regularly celebrating an annual Thanksgiving holiday, and in 1827 published a novel, Northwood: A Tale of New England, that included an entire chapter about the fall tradition, already popular in parts of the nation. While at Godey's, Hale often wrote editorials and articles about the holiday. She lobbied state and federal officials to pass legislation creating a fixed national day of thanks on the last Thursday of November. She believed such a unifying measure could help ease growing tensions and divisions between the northern and southern parts of the country. Her efforts paid off: By 1854, more than 30 states and U.S. territories had a Thanksgiving celebration on the books.

However, the outbreak of war in April 1861 did little to stop Sarah Josepha Hale's efforts to create the holiday. She continued to write editorials on the subject, urging Americans to "put aside sectional feelings and local incidents" and rally around the unifying cause of Thanksgiving. And the holiday continued, despite hostilities, in both the Union and the Confederacy.

After more than three decades of lobbying, Sarah Josepha Hale (and the United States) had a national holiday, though some changes remained in store.

In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt briefly moved Thanksgiving up a week in an effort to extend the already critical shopping period before Christmas and spur economic activity during the Great Depression.

While several states followed FDR's lead, others balked, with 16 states refusing to honor the calendar shift, leaving the country with dueling Thanksgivings. Faced with increasing opposition, Roosevelt reversed course just two years later. In the fall of 1941, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution returning the holiday to the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving is a great holiday; I personally really enjoy it. I have fond memories of spending time with family, having high school basketball coaches run you to death the Friday afterward to burn off all the food, and watching some football. What do you like to do on Thanksgiving weekend? I would love to hear about it!

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,