Happy Thanksgiving Day!!

Library will be closed on November 27th and 28th to observe Thanksgiving. Have a happy one from the staff at the Lovettsville Library!!

Here is a little tidbit about Thanksgiving from our History Resource Center database, which can be used for any history project for kids or adults. Click here to visit our database page.

A national holiday in the United States since 1863, Thanksgiving has come to play a number of important roles in popular culture. It was customary in Europe to hold days of thanksgiving both for successful harvests and for events such as military victories, deliverance from plagues, and royal births. The date and site of the first Thanksgiving in what is now the United States are still debated, but the most famous in pre-independence times was that held in October, 1621 in the Plymouth Colony. There, European immigrants, "the Pilgrims," and indigenous Wampanoag Indians celebrated the harvest season with feasting that included the dish that would become a traditional part of the day: turkey. Throughout the colonial era, days of thanksgiving were common, especially in New England, but not universal or regular. Although national days of thanksgiving were proclaimed by the Continental Congress in 1777 and by President Washington in 1789, there was no great clamor for an annual festival until the nineteenth century.

Credit for the establishment of Thanksgiving Day as a nation-wide holiday must go to Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, the editor of an influential women's magazine (and author of "Mary Had a Little Lamb") who lobbied legislatures and presidents from 1827 on. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a day of "thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens," and since then it has been an annual celebration, though the date has varied. From 1939-1941 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in response to the complaints of businessmen that there was insufficient shopping time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, proclaimed Thanksgiving to be the third Thursday in November. This, however, created conflicts with the dating of the holiday in many states which had their own Thanksgiving legislation, so Congress in 1941 passed a joint resolution decreeing that the observance should fall on the fourth Thursday of November.

"Thanksgiving." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. 5 vols. St. James Press, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/

Election Tidbits

Today is Election Day, a very important day for American citizens. Over the years there have been many fascinating stories and outcomes from this day, and I went to one of our Kids' Databases, Grolier Online, to find some interesting tidbits for you today as we celebrate our democracy.

There have been many amazingly close races for the presidency—the Garfield-Hancock contest in 1880 and the Bush-Gore campaign in 2000, for example—and several landslides—as in the Roosevelt-Landon contest of 1936—as well. Since 1956 election outcomes have swung dramatically, with landslides for Republicans (1956, 1972, 1980, and 1984) and Democrats (1964). There have been numerous oddities and quirks in presidential election outcomes. James Monroe was unopposed for reelection in 1820, whereas in 1824, Andrew Jackson led three challengers in the popular and electoral vote; because he lacked a majority of the latter, though, the election was decided in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he lost.

With the presence of serious third- and fourth-party challengers, such candidates as Abraham Lincoln in 1860, Woodrow Wilson in 1912, Harry Truman in 1948, and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 have been elected president by less than a majority of the popular vote. Because of the operation of the electoral college, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, Benjamin Harrison in 1888, and George W. Bush in 2000 were elected president even though they received fewer popular votes than their leading challengers.

For more information, search "presidential elections" in the database, Grolier Multimedia Encyclepedia.

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope everyone gets a chance to be outdoors this weekend to enjoy the wonderful weather we are having. Here are some interesting facts about Memorial Day, and how it got started, pulled from our Kids InfoBits Database. This database is a great one when helping your child with their homework projects. Especially if the library is closed or you can't get out that day.

Memorial Day is an American holiday to honor the men and women who died in war. Originally, it was held on May 30. Then in 1971, President Richard Nixon made it a national holiday. At that time, the date was changed to the last Monday in May.

Decoration Day History

When it first began, Memorial Day was called Decoration Day. After the Civil War ended in 1865, people wanted to remember the soldiers who had died. Many families went to cemeteries to decorate the soldiers' graves with flowers.

In 1865, Henry C. Welles, a druggist from Waterloo, New York, suggested the town set aside a day to honor the dead. Everyone agreed, so on May 5, 1866, all the businesses closed. Flags were raised only halfway to show respect for the dead. Houses were draped with black streamers. The villagers paraded to the cemetery to put wreaths, crosses, and flowers on the soldiers' graves and to listen to speeches. Waterloo continued this tradition every year after that. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo the birthplace of Memorial Day, although many other cities also claim they started the holiday.

On May 5, 1868, Civil War veteran John Logan, the head of a powerful political organization, announced that May 30 would be Decoration Day. A ceremony was held at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 people put flowers on the graves of more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers. Many other cities also held celebrations that day. Even Waterloo changed the date of its celebration to May 30.

By the late 1800s, towns all across the United States celebrated Decoration Day. After World War I, people used this day to honor everyone who had died in any American war. In 1967, the name was officially changed from Decoration Day to Memorial Day.

Memorial Day Traditions

On Memorial Day many cities hold parades, and veterans march to cemeteries. Speeches, special services, prayers, and decorating graves with flags or flowers are also part of the day. At Arlington National Cemetery, each grave is decorated with a flag. All weekend long, soldiers patrol to be sure that these flags remain standing. The president or vice president of the United States gives a speech and places a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
At army bases around the country, soldiers fire their rifles in a salute. Buglers play the song, "Taps." At sea, sailors throw flowers into the ocean to remember those who died.
For many people, Memorial Day is the beginning of summer activities. Most businesses close for the long holiday weekend. Friends and family gather for cookouts or picnics. Some people visit cemeteries or remember loved ones who have died.

Confederate Memorial Day

Because Memorial Day began as a Northern holiday, some Southern states have their own days to honor Confederate soldiers who died. Confederate Memorial Day is celebrated on June 3 in Louisiana and Tennessee, on May 10 in North Carolina and South Carolina, on the last Monday in May in Virginia, and during April in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi. January 19 is Confederate Heroes Day in Texas.

Source Citation: "Memorial Day." Kids InfoBits Presents: Holidays of the World. Thomson Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits

New Teen Resource

LCPL just subscribed to a new database called Teen Health & Wellness, where teens can go to get real answers to real life questions. Subjects cover anything from bullying to braces to being a first-generation American teen.


Check it out today!! Teen Health & Wellness