Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933. When my mother was 8, she tried to convince her aunt to celebrate the family's first Thanksgiving, but Mother failed. See below. — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933. When my mother was 8, she tried to convince her aunt to celebrate the family’s first Thanksgiving, but Mother failed. See below.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1933 proclamation declaring Thanksgiving a national holiday.

By the President of the United States of America
A ProclamationI, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do set aside and appoint Thursday, the thirtieth day of November, 1933, to be a Day of Thanksgiving for all our people.

May we on that day in our churches and in our homes give humble thanks for the blessings bestowed upon us during the year past by Almighty God.

May we recall the courage of those who settled a wilderness, the vision of those who founded the Nation, the steadfastness of those who in every succeeding generation have fought to keep pure the ideal of equality of opportunity and hold clear the goal of mutual help in time of prosperity as in time of adversity.

May we ask guidance in more surely learning the ancient truth that greed and selfishness and striving for undue riches can never bring lasting happiness or good to the individual or to his neighbors.

May we be grateful for the passing of dark days; for the new spirit of dependence one on another; for the closer unity of all parts of our wide land; for the greater friendship between employers and those who toil; for a clearer knowledge by all Nations that we seek no conquests and ask only honorable engagements by all peoples to respect the lands and rights of their neighbors; for the brighter day to which we can win through by seeking the help of God in a more unselfish striving for the common bettering of mankind.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

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Citation: Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Proclamation 2062 – Thanksgiving Day,” November 21, 1933. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=14559.

Afterward on my mother, the late Dr. Miriam P. Schmerler

“My mother Miriam told me [when I was a freshman at Druid Hills High School in Decatur, Georgia in 1961] of her attempt to convince her Aunt Marcia (Tanta Masha) to have a Thanksgiving celebration in 1933 when my mother was eight years old.” For the complete story see: https://joelsolkoff.com/my-mothers-thanksgiving-story-and-my-thanksgiving-letter/