As we sat down for Thanksgiving dinner, we got to thinking about the great men and women who have left their mark on North Square and our thoughts immediately went to one person in particular without whom there might not be a Thanksgiving Day – Sarah Josepha Hale!
Hale was a writer, editor, widowed mother of five and philanthropist whose lasting legacy includes not only convincing President Lincoln to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday after 17 years of advocacy, but also the foundation of the Seaman’s Aid Society in the North End in 1833. The Society helped with employment for sailors’ wives, created a free school for sailors’ daughters and ultimately opened the Mariners House in North Square as a boarding house for sailors!.
For more information on Hale, go to Bonnie Hurd Smith’s biography of Hale on the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail site.
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