Lincoln's Other Proclamation: The Origin of America’s Thanksgiving Holiday Tradition

Thu, 06 Nov, 2025 at 06:00 pm UTC-05:00

Blount Mansion | Knoxville

The Abraham Lincoln Center for the Study of Leadership and Public Policy
Publisher/HostThe Abraham Lincoln Center for the Study of Leadership and Public Policy
Lincoln's Other Proclamation: The Origin of America\u2019s Thanksgiving Holiday Tradition
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What is Lincoln's role in establishing the modern Thanksgiving holiday? Our Executive Director will be speaking on Lincoln's other proclamation in Knoxville at Blount Mansion on November 6.
Though Thanksgiving traces its roots to the 1621 Pilgrim harvest feast in Plymouth Colony, the practice of celebrating the holiday in late November was not firmly established until the American Civil War. During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln issued several thanksgiving proclamations to help the nation cope with the tragedy of war while remaining grateful that things were not worse. However, none of these proclamations specified a single day as a national day set aside for prayer.
Then, in October 1863, President Lincoln, prompted by a famed poet, novelist, and editor who had been vigorously pushing for a national Thanksgiving Day for nearly two decades, issued yet another Thanksgiving proclamation that established the modern holiday tradition.
https://blountmansion.org/event/history-lecture-series-nov6/
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Blount Mansion, 1099 State St SW, Knoxville, TN 37902, United States

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