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Thanksgiving

On October 3, 1789, President George Washington issued a proclamation naming Thursday, November 26, 1789, as an official holiday of "sincere and humble thanks." The nation then celebrated its first Thanksgiving under its new Constitution. On October 3, 1863, President Lincoln made the traditional Thanksgiving celebration a nationwide holiday to be commemorated annually in November. View related records in the National Archives Catalog.

Media Gallery

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Thanksgiving at the White House

President George W Bush receives a turkey

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt carves the Thanksgiving turkey (National Archives Identifier 6728549)

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President Harry S. Truman receives a Turkey for Thanksgiving (National Archives Identifier 200138)

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President Dwight D. Eisenhower feeds a cranberry to a turkey he received from the Turkey Foundation on November 4, 1954, at the White House. (National Archives, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library)

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Presentation of a Thanksgiving turkey to President John F. Kennedy (National Archives Identifier 6817150)

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Annual presentation of a Thanksgiving turkey to President Lyndon B. Johnson (National Archives Identifier 6802682)

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Annual presentation of a Thanksgiving turkey to President Richard Nixon (National Archives Identifier 194663)

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President Gerald R. Ford is presented with a Thanksgiving turkey by the National Turkey Federation. (National Archives Identifier 6829627)

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President George H.W. Bush participates in the presentation and pardoning of the National Thanksgiving Turkey. (National Archives Identifier 6728222)

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President George W. Bush pardons "Pumpkin and Pecan" in the National Thanksgiving Turkey Ceremony. (National Archives, George W. Bush Presidential Library)

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President Barack Obama, National Turkey Federation Chairman Gary Cooper, and son Cole Cooper participate in the annual National Thanksgiving Turkey Pardon Ceremony in the Grand Foyer of the White House. (National Archives, Barack Obama Presidential Library)

Accordion

Video Resources

"Turkey & Trimmings" with the 9th Italy Combat Camera Unit, 1944

Thanksgiving: Upside Down Turkeys? and Navy Cooks, 1956

Special Forces’ Thanksgiving dinner in Vietnam (Xom Cat) 1966

Servicemen Around the World Have Thanksgiving Turkey, 1969

President Johnson's Thanksgiving Message, 1963

President Reagan's Thanksgiving Messages, 1986, 1988

Presidential Turkey Presentations

Lyndon Johnson, 1968

Richard Nixon, 1969

Ronald Reagan, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1988

William Clinton, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000

Barack Obama, 2009, 2010

Articles and Blogs

Prologue magazine: Thanksgiving: Another FDR Experiment

AOTUS Blog: Giving Thanks

AOTUS Blog: Blessings of Peace, Union and Harmony

Education Updates: Featured Document Display: Thanksgiving: Historical Perspectives

Education Updates: Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Ford in Focus: Turkey Presentations

Ford in Focus: Gobble Gobble!

Forward with Roosevelt: The Year of Two Thanksgivings

Forward with Roosevelt: Thanksgiving 1941

Forward with Roosevelt: Thanksgiving 1943

Forward with Roosevelt: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Thanksgiving Proclamation

Forward with Roosevelt: Eleanor Roosevelt—My Day: November 22–30

Hoover Heads: Thanksgiving Proclamations and President Hoover

Hoover Heads: Thanksgiving Proclamation-Arkansas, 1931

Hoover Heads: Thanksgiving in the White House

NARAtions: Ten Records We're Thankful to Have at the National Archives

Pieces of History: Thanksgiving as a Federal Holiday

Pieces of History: A Thanksgiving Presidential Proclamation (from George Washington!)

Pieces of History: Tasty tidbits for your Thanksgiving table

Pieces of History: A White House Thanksgiving - with recipes!

Pieces of History: Thanksgiving with the Presidents

Pieces of History: What’s Cooking Wednesday: Truman and the No-Turkey Thursday

Pieces of History: Reagan and the “Turkey Bird”

Pieces of History: Thanksgiving Aboard the Freedom Train

The Text Message: Thanksgiving Around the World, World War I

The Text Message: Cartoonist Clifford Berryman on Thanksgiving

The Text Message: Thanksgiving in Rome, 1944

The Unwritten Record: Gobble Gobble: America’s Thanksgiving Turkey Tradition

The Unwritten Record: Images of the Week: Thanksgiving with the Troops

The Unwritten Record: Mission: Turkey! Thanksgiving Dinner and the U.S. Military

Online Resources

Featured Document Display: Thanksgiving: Historical Perspectives

Founders Online: George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, 10/3/1789

National Archives Catalog: President Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation of October 3, 1863

National Archives Catalog: Records tagged for "Thanksgiving"

Center for Legislative Archives: Congress Establishes Thanksgiving

DocsTeach: Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Presidential Libraries Resources

Bess Wallace Truman’s Thanksgiving Menu, 1947. Note: No turkey! During the winter of 1947, Americans were urged to eat less poultry so that grain that would normally go to feed livestock could be sent to famine-stricken people in Europe. The Trumans complied with the suggestions of the Citizens Food Committee (and ate their Thanksgiving turkey on Wednesdat, not Thursday).

Bess Wallace Truman’s Thanksgiving Menu, 1948