Sara Hale

In 1878, Inventor Thomas Edison spoke the first words ever to be recorded into a phonograph. The words he chose to be immortalized in that initial recording originated from a popular children’s poem of the time, “Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow; and everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.” The poem was included in Poems for our Children that Sara Josepha Hale (1788-1879) wrote expressly for children in 1830, based on an experience of a lamb following her in earlier years. When Sara’s husband David died unexpectantly of a heart attack, Sara had no means of financial support for her family of five children under the age of seven. She turned to writing poems and novels, the first of which, Northwood, became one of the first books in America to condemn slavery. She became editor of a women’s magazine, a position she held for 32 years, writing much of the copy herself. She used her writing platform to instill values in American culture and lobby for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday. She was convinced that Thanksgiving would help heal a fractured nation and unite Christians in acknowledging God “as a dispenser of many blessings.” While her early efforts had minimal impact, the letter she wrote to President Abraham Lincoln convinced him to support legislation to sign into law the national holiday of Thanksgiving in 1863. Sara was active in the Episcopal Church and supported Christian causes through her writing. Included in Poems for Our Children was a rhymed version of the Lord’s Prayer: