ObservanceThursday, November 26, 2026
Thanksgiving Day
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Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November — November 26 in 2026 — and is a federal holiday. The story most people know, a 1621 feast at Plymouth, rests on a single eyewitness letter that never uses the word. The national holiday itself came later and more bureaucratically: presidential proclamations, a magazine editor's years-long campaign, a Civil War, and a 1941 argument over the Christmas shopping calendar.
History
The Plymouth gathering is real, and thinly documented. Edward Winslow, a colonist, described it in a letter of 1621: after the harvest the governor sent four men fowling, and Massasoit, the Wampanoag leader, arrived with about ninety men. The colonists "entertained and feasted" them for three days, and the visitors killed five deer. Pilgrim Hall Museum counts 53 surviving Mayflower colonists, so the Wampanoag guests outnumbered their hosts roughly two to one. Winslow lists no menu beyond fowl and deer, and he does not call the event a thanksgiving. That label arrived in 1841, when the editor Alexander Young annotated the letter: "This was the first Thanksgiving."
Public days of thanks were a separate, older habit. On September 28, 1789, the first Congress asked the president to recommend a national day of thanksgiving, and George Washington proclaimed Thursday, November 26. His successors issued proclamations too, with dates and even months that varied.
The fixed date traces to Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book, who campaigned for years for an annual national festival. In September 1863 she wrote to Abraham Lincoln hoping for "the permanency and unity of our Great American Festival of Thanksgiving." On October 3, 1863, a few months after Gettysburg, Lincoln asked Americans to "set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise" — that year, also November 26. It was observed yearly on the last Thursday from then on.
In 1939 the last Thursday fell on November 30. Worried that a shorter Christmas shopping season would hurt the economic recovery, Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the second-to-last Thursday. Thirty-two states followed; sixteen kept the old date, and for two years the country observed two. Congress settled it in 1941: the House chose the last Thursday, the Senate changed it to the fourth so the holiday would land in the same week even in Novembers with five Thursdays, and Roosevelt signed on December 26.
The day also has a counter-observance. In 1970, Wamsutta Frank James, an Aquinnah Wampanoag man, was invited to speak at a state banquet marking the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrims' landing, then told he could not deliver his remarks. Native people and their supporters gathered in Plymouth instead and declared a National Day of Mourning, which the United American Indians of New England has held annually since.
Timeline
- 1621 — Colonists and about ninety Wampanoag men feast at Plymouth for three days; Winslow describes it in a letter.
- 1789 — Washington proclaims Thursday, November 26 a day of national thanksgiving, after a September 28 resolution of Congress.
- 1841 — Alexander Young annotates Winslow's letter "This was the first Thanksgiving," attaching the name to the 1621 feast.
- 1863 — Sarah Josepha Hale writes to Lincoln in September; on October 3 he proclaims the last Thursday of November a day of thanksgiving.
- 1939–1941 — Roosevelt moves the date a week earlier and the states split; Congress fixes the fourth Thursday, and he signs it on December 26, 1941.
- 1970 — Wamsutta Frank James is barred from delivering his speech at Plymouth; the National Day of Mourning begins.
How to observe
Read Winslow's letter. The surviving eyewitness passage is a few sentences long, and Plimoth Patuxet Museums publishes it online. Set against the pageant version, it shows which parts of the story are documented.
Read the proclamations. The Library of Congress's Today in History entry for November 26 quotes both Lincoln's of 1863 and Washington's of 1789.
Hear the other account. The United American Indians of New England holds its National Day of Mourning observance at noon in Plymouth every Thanksgiving, with speeches and a march that ends near Plymouth Rock.
Watch the Lions. Detroit's Thanksgiving football game dates to 1934, when owner George A. Richards scheduled the reigning champion Bears to win newspaper space from the city's baseball team. The Bears won, 19–16.
Frequently asked questions
When is Thanksgiving?
The fourth Thursday of November — November 26 in 2026. It is the fourth Thursday, not the last: in a November with five Thursdays, such as 2028, it falls on the 23rd rather than the 30th.
Is Thanksgiving a federal holiday?
Yes. Federal law (5 U.S.C. 6103) establishes it as a public holiday for federal employees.
Was the 1621 feast the first Thanksgiving?
It was a documented harvest gathering, but the only eyewitness account does not use the word. The name was added in 1841, and no complete menu survives.
Did Lincoln invent Thanksgiving?
No. Washington proclaimed a national day of thanks in 1789. Lincoln's 1863 proclamation set the last Thursday of November as the yearly date.
Where does the presidential turkey pardon come from?
The origin is contested. An 1865 dispatch describes Lincoln's son Tad pleading for a turkey bought for Christmas dinner. Turkeys were sent to presidents from the 1870s, Kennedy spared one in 1963, and the formal annual pardon dates to George H.W. Bush in 1989.
When is Thanksgiving Day?
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | November 26 | Thursday |
| 2027 | November 25 | Thursday |
| 2028 | November 23 | Thursday |
| 2029 | November 22 | Thursday |
| 2030 | November 28 | Thursday |
Sources
- National Archives, Thanksgiving, Legislative Archives feature — https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/thanksgiving → 1789 congressional resolution and Washington's proclamation; later proclamations varied; 1863 and yearly last-Thursday observance; 1939 date change, 32 states to 16; 1941 House, Senate and signing dates.
- Library of Congress, Today in History: November 26 — https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/november-26/ → Lincoln's October 3, 1863 proclamation and quoted text; Washington 1789; Public Law 77-379, fourth Thursday from 1942.
- Library of Congress, The Woman Who Helped Put Thanksgiving on the Calendar, In the Library blog — https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2024/11/the-woman-who-helped-put-thanksgiving-on-the-calendar/ → Sarah Josepha Hale, Godey's Lady's Book, September 1863 letter to Lincoln.
- Plimoth Patuxet Museums, Eye-Witness Account of the 1621 Harvest Celebration — https://plimoth.org/yath/unit-4/eye-witness-account-of-the-1621-harvest-celebration → Winslow's letter text: four men fowling, Massasoit with some ninety men, three days, five deer; no use of the word "Thanksgiving"; Alexander Young's 1841 annotation.
- Pilgrim Hall Museum, Who was at the "First Thanksgiving" at Plymouth? — https://www.pilgrimhall.org/?p=2024 → 53 surviving Mayflower colonists; at least 90 Wampanoag; Massasoit the only Wampanoag named in primary accounts.
- United American Indians of New England, Historical Information — https://uaine.org/historical.htm → 1970 banquet, Wamsutta Frank James, National Day of Mourning, annual noon observance in Plymouth.
- White House Historical Association, History of White House Thanksgiving Traditions — https://www.whitehousehistory.org/press-room/press-backgrounders/history-of-white-house-thanksgiving-traditions → turkey gifts from the 1870s; 1865 Noah Brooks dispatch; Kennedy 1963; formal pardon 1989.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Federal Holidays — https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/ → 5 U.S.C. 6103; Thanksgiving Day listed for federal employees; November 26, 2026.
- Pro Football Hall of Fame, Thanksgiving Game Tradition Dates to 1934 — https://profootballhof.com/blogs/2020/12/blogs-stories-from-the-pro-football-hall-of-fame-archives-thanksgiving-game-tradition-dates-to-1934 → Lions–Bears 1934, George A. Richards, 19–16 result, sellout.
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