Thanksgiving Proclamation

 

Thanksgiving Proclamation
26 October 1925 - Washington, D.C.

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Transcription

(THANKSGIVING—1925)
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

The season approaches when, in accordance with a long established and respected custom, a day is set apart to give thanks to Almighty God for the manifold blessings which His gracious and benevolent providence has bestowed upon us as a nation and as individuals.

We have been brought with safety and honor through another year, and, through the generosity of nature, He has blessed us with resources whose potentiality in wealth is almost incalculable; we are at peace at home and abroad; the public health is good; we have been undisturbed by pestilences or great catastrophes; our harvests and our industries have been rich in productivity; our commerce spreads over the whole world, and Labor has been well rewarded for its remunerative service.

As we have grown and prospered in material things, so also should we progress in moral and spiritual things. We are a God-fearing people who should set ourselves against evil and strive for righteousness in living, and observing the Golden Rule we should practice the brotherhood of man. We should give our attention to those things which are worthy of our best thought and endeavor. And in all things we should bow in gratitude to God for His many favors.

Now, therefore, I, Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States, do hereby set apart Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November next as a day of general thanksgiving and prayer, and I recommend that on that day the people shall cease from their daily work, and in their homes or in their accustomed places of worship, devoutly give thanks to the Almighty for the many and great blessings they have received, and to seek His guidance that they may deserve a continuance of His favor.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

DONE at the City of Washington this 26th day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and fiftieth.

CALVIN COOLIDGE
By the President:
FRANK B. KELLOGG
Secretary of State.
[No. 1753]
[Government Printing Office]

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Analysis

President Calvin Coolidge’s 1925 Thanksgiving Proclamation epitomizes the restrained religiosity and moral conservatism of the mid-1920s. Issued during a time of remarkable economic growth, the document balances acknowledgment of material abundance with an exhortation toward spiritual and ethical reflection.

1. Gratitude and Peace

Coolidge opens with traditional language of thanksgiving, highlighting peace “at home and abroad,” good health, and economic vitality. This aligns with his presidency’s central theme: prosperity through stability and limited government. It is one of the few proclamations from this period that does not reference war or crisis, underscoring national calm.

2. Emphasis on Moral Progress

Coolidge shifts the tone mid-way, advocating not only gratitude for material prosperity but a renewed commitment to spiritual progress. His invocation of the “Golden Rule” and “brotherhood of man” speaks to a universalist Christian ethic, reflecting both his personal piety and the era’s emphasis on civic morality.

3. Religious and Civic Unity

The recommendation that Americans gather “in their homes or in their accustomed places of worship” highlights the intimate and communal nature of the observance. It maintains the dual character of Thanksgiving as both a public and private, sacred and civic ritual.

4. Government Printing Office Imprint 

The inclusion of the [Government Printing Office] mark is significant. It signals a formal issuance intended for wide distribution, possibly to state executives, public institutions, or federal buildings. Unlike private printings or local press copies, this version reflects the federal bureaucratic apparatus of proclamation dissemination in the early 20th century.

Transcription and Analysis by ChatGPT – OpenAI