Thanksgiving’s A Go

On November 1621, a man named William Bradford organized a celebratory feast which brought the Pilgrims and Native Americans together. That feast was our very first Thanksgiving.

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While the precise menu of that day remains a mystery, a pilgrim named Edward Winslow recorded in his journal that deer was served that fateful day, what we now know as venison. That’s right, none of the contemporary staples of Thanksgiving were accounted for — meaning no turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie.

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Thanksgiving fact: In 1817, New York became the first of several states in the U.S. to adopt Thanksgiving as a holiday. While each state celebrated Thanksgiving on a different day, the South remained unfamiliar with the tradition.

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In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday to be celebrated each November. Since then, Thanksgiving has remained solidified in the American consciousness.

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However, Thanksgiving had no specific date until president Franklin D. Roosevelt took office. On December 26 1941, congress declared that all Americans would celebrate the holiday annually — on the fourth Thursday of November.

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Millions of people all over the United States celebrate Thanksgiving each year; here are a few highlights from my family’s celebratory feast.