This post originally appeared in UW Law Library News and was written by Scott Park, Digital Collections and Reference Librarian.
As we approach Thanksgiving, you might assume the fourth Thursday of November has always been the designated date for this federal holiday. The actual history reveals a more contentious story involving presidential proclamations, state resistance, and congressional compromise.
The Beginning
On September 28, 1789, just before leaving for recess, the first Federal Congress passed a resolution asking that the President 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 in the new nation.
Later presidents issued their own Thanksgiving proclamations, but the dates and even months of the celebrations varied. Not until President Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation was Thanksgiving regularly celebrated each year on the last Thursday of November.
The 1939 Controversy
In 1939, the last Thursday in November fell on November 30th, the final day of the month. Concerned that the shortened shopping season might slow economic recovery during the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a presidential proclamation moving Thanksgiving to the second-to-last Thursday of November.
The reaction was swift and divided. Thirty-two states issued similar proclamations following the president’s lead, but sixteen states refused to accept the change and proclaimed Thanksgiving would remain on the last Thursday in November. For two years, different parts of the country celebrated Thanksgiving on different days.
Congressional Resolution
To end the confusion, Congress decided to set a fixed date for the holiday. On October 6, 1941, the House passed a joint resolution declaring the last Thursday in November to be the legal Thanksgiving Day. The Senate amended the resolution, establishing the holiday as the fourth Thursday—accounting for those years when November has five Thursdays. The House agreed to the amendment, and President Roosevelt signed the resolution on December 26, 1941.
This compromise cemented the fourth Thursday in November as the federal Thanksgiving Day holiday, where it remains today—a fitting reminder that even our most cherished traditions sometimes require legislative clarity.
I would like to thank my Law Library colleague, Scott, for this post which clarified something that has long puzzled me. One of my favorite holiday movies is 1942’s Holiday Inn. There’s a scene in the movie with a cartoon turkey moving between two Thursdays on the November calendar. I always wondered about that scene, and now I get the joke!