On October 3, 1863, expressing gratitude for a pivotal Union Army victory at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln announces that the nation will celebrate an official Thanksgiving holiday on November 26, 1863.

The speech, which was actually written by Secretary of State William Seward, declared that the fourth Thursday of every November thereafter would be considered an official U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving. This announcement harkened back to when George Washington was in his first term as the first president in 1789 and the young American nation had only a few years earlier emerged from the American Revolution. At that time, George Washington called for an official celebratory “day of public thanksgiving and prayer.” While Congress overwhelmingly agreed to Washington’s suggestion, the holiday did not yet become an annual event.

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Source: history.com

Citation Information

Article Title

President Lincoln proclaims official Thanksgiving holiday

AuthorHistory.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-proclaims-official-thanksgiving-holiday

Access Date

October 3, 2021

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

October 1, 2020

Original Published Date

November 16, 2009

Former Coach of the Seattle Supersonics to be Honored

SEATTLE (September 29, 2022) – With the excitement surrounding the NBA preseason games this weekend at Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle Center will celebrate basketball legend Coach Lenny Wilkens on Monday, Oct. 3, from 5:00-6:00 p.m. at the Fisher Pavilion.

Featuring community speakers, a local performance, and appearances by local fixtures in the NBA community, the event will honor the former Seattle SuperSonics coach with a proclamation presented by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell declaring October 3 “Lenny Wilkens Day at Seattle Center”.

For the complete article and links for event news:

centerspotlight.seattle.gov

NowThis Impact

September 20, 1962: Lt Governor Johnson Blocked James Meredith From Enrolling At Ole Miss
by Carletta Denise – September 20, 2016 – BLACK EDUCATION, Black First, BLACK MEN, BLACK POLITICS, BLACKS IN THE MILITARY, CIVIL RIGHTS, DID YOU KNOW, Injustices, JIM CROW, LATEST POSTS, Looking Black On Today, Missing From Textbooks, POLITICS, Racism

Armed with a court order, and escorted by federal marshals, Meredith tried to enter the university on Thursday, September. 20th. He was blocked by mobs and Mississippi Lt Governor Paul Johnson, defying the high court’s ruling.

James Meredith, a 28-year-old married veteran of the Air Force, had studied for two years at Jackson State University. But Meredith wanted a better legal education than the HBCU could offer, and he wanted to get it at Ole Miss.

For 16 months, James Meredith’s case was fought in the courts. Brown v. the Board of Education had come more than 8 years earlier, forbidding “separate but equal” public schools, NO university in the South–the great bastion of segregation–had yet integrated.
After twice being denied admission, with advice from the NAACP, Meredith took his case all the way to the Supreme Court, where he was finally granted the right to attend the all-white university.

Resources: on this day in history

Black Then

The first disaster relief provided by the American Red Cross benefited thousands of fire victims left destitute this day by the Great Fire of 1881.It had been a long hot summer in the ‘thumb-area’ of Michigan and small forest fires were burning. A southwest gale fanned the flames into an inferno. The fire raged for three days, scorching over a million acres… 282 people died in the blaze. The American Association for the Relief of Misery on the Battlefields was a result of the International Red Cross and the forerunner of the American Association of the Red Cross. Clara Barton was instrumental in establishing the American chapter in 1881. Over one hundred nations now have Red Cross associations. Each national society carries on its own program; however, all are united in their aim to prevent misery in time of war or peace and serve all people, regardless of race, nationality or religion. The Red Cross flag (white background with a red cross) is the reverse of Switzerland’s flag where the first Red Cross was founded in 1863 … and that’s how the organization got its name. 440int.com