Hale, Sarah Josepha, << joh SEE fuh >> (1788-1879), became one of the most famous magazine editors in the United States during the 1800’s. As editor of the Ladies’ Magazine and, later, of Godey’s Lady’s Book, she helped shape the taste and thought of thousands of women. She received credit for persuading President Abraham Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. Of her many writings, her major surviving work is the children’s poem, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Sarah Hale was born on Oct. 24, 1788, in Newport, New Hampshire. She died on April 30, 1879.
