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Thanksgiving has long been a time to be thankful for friends and loved ones. Many of us associate the observation with delicious food, family, and football, though Thanksgiving hasn’t always been a time of reflection and food. The Library of Congress has an interactive Thanksgiving Timeline, 1541-2001, which takes us through major events across the centuries which included gratitude as a theme, including several which have been named “the first Thanksgiving.” For example, in May of 1541, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led 1500 men in a Thanksgiving Parade. In the spring of 1610, Colonists in Jamestown, Virginia held a thanksgiving prayer service after English supply ships arrived with food. The harsh winter of 1609-1610 generated a famine that decimated the settlers. The group was reduced from 490 members to only 60 survivors who were forced to dire measures such as eating their horses.
In 1856, Puritan leader William Bradford's 1650 manuscript, "Of Plimoth Plantation," was published after being lost for about eighty years. The document briefly mentions the Plymouth colony's famous 1621 harvest celebration:
And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they took many, besids
venison, &c. Besids they had aboute a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest,
Indean corne to yt proportion.
In 2000, the nation waited to find out who would pardon the White House turkey in 2001. The closest presidential election in U.S. history also became the longest as Al Gore and George W. Bush battled over voting results. George W. Bush was declared the winner after a December 12th Supreme Court ruling that hand-counting disputed votes in Florida was unconstitutional. These and many other interesting facts are available for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!
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On September 28, 1789, just before leaving for recess, the first Federal Congress passed a resolution asking that the President of the United States recommend to the nation a day of thanksgiving. A few days later, President George Washington issued a proclamation naming Thursday, November 26, 1789 as a "Day of Publick Thanksgivin" - the first time Thanksgiving was celebrated under the new Constitution. Later presidents issued Thanksgiving Proclamations, but the dates and even months of the celebrations varied. It wasn't until President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Proclamation that Thanksgiving was regularly commemorated each year on the last Thursday of November.
In 1939, the last Thursday in November fell on the last day of the month. Concerned that the shortened Christmas shopping season might hurt the economy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation moving Thanksgiving to the second to last Thursday of November. As a result of this proclamation, 32 states issues similar proclamation while 16 states refused to accept the change and proclaimed Thanksgiving to be the last Thursday in November. For the next two years, Thanksgiving was celebrated on two days. The President and part of the nation celebrated on the second to last Thursday in November and the rest of the country celebrated the following week.
Congress decided to set a fixed date for Thanksgiving. On October 6, 1941, the U.S. House passed a joint resolution declaring the last Thursday in November to be the legal, official Thanksgiving Day. The Senate amended the resolution establishing the holiday as the fourth Thursday, which would take into account those years when November has five Thursdays. The House agreed and President Roosevelt signed the resolution on December 26, 1941, establishing the fourth Thursday in November as the federal Thanksgiving Day Holiday!
With wintry weather making an early arrival, be sure to stay up-to-date on local road conditions by checking the Indiana Department of Homeland Security County Travel Status map.
Other useful resources include:
• INDOT Road Conditions phone line: 1-800-261-ROAD (7623)
• Indiana Travel Conditions
• Indianapolis Travel Conditions
• Northwest Indiana Travel Conditions
• Louisville and Southern Indiana Interactive Traffic Map
• National Weather Service
According to a November 18 press release, Governor Mike Pence appointed Kelly Mitchell to serve as State Treasurer for the remainder of the current term ending on December 31, 2014. She will complete the term formerly held by Richard Mourdock and most recently occupied by Daniel Huge. Mitchell was sworn in at a private ceremony in the Statehouse. She was elected November 4 to serve as State Treasurer beginning January 1, 2015.
Most recently, Mitchell served for six years as Director of TrustINdiana in the Treasurer’s Office. Prior to this role, she worked in business development for United Consulting and earlier for two terms as the youngest County Commissioner in the state in Cass County.
Governor Pence thanked Huge for serving as Treasurer of State in an interim capacity beginning on August 29 of this year. |
