The Fathers and Saviors of Our Country: A Presidential Sale

A Proclamation for a Day of Humiliation and Prayer. [Washington, D.C.], July 1864. 18 x 14 in. printed broadside (Lacking upper portion addressed from the governor of the issuing state, minor discolorations and losses along folds.) -- By the President of the United States, A Proclamation. [Washington: n.d.]. 9 1/4 x 6 in. printed broadside. (Minor marginal loss, corner loss.) -- [ANDREW, John A. (1818-1867)]. A Proclamation. [Boston:] N.p., 16 September 1861. 15 x 9 3/4 in. printed broadside. (Minor discolorations and losses along folds.)

As communities, families, and homes were torn apart by the ongoing Civil War, Abraham Lincoln sought ways, big and small, to remind a nation torn asunder of the common bonds that remained. Numerous proclamations of thanksgiving were issued, always with the hope that in reminding Americans that even in the face of such heartbreaking loss, there remained much to be thankful for, the will to see the war to its end would remain strong.

The first national Thanksgiving Proclamation was issued by President George Washington on 3 October 1789, and Lincoln's use of it during the Civil War helped further establish in the public consciousness the war not only as a struggle to keep the nation united, but also as a struggle to see the nation live up to its founding ideals. Exactly seventy-four years to the day from Washington's original proclamation, Lincoln officially established Thanksgiving as a national holiday.