Who Established Thanksgiving Day?

It seems Peter Michael's book on John Hanson gets about as much attention as Hanson gets in history. Part of the problem is that Hanson had little authority as President under the Articles of Confederation, as did his seven successors. Most of the power remained vested in the states, with a Confederation Congress that rarely met during its tenure from 1781-1789, before the US Constitution became the law of the land.

Nevertheless, Hanson played a pivotal role in the formation of a federal government, creating a nascent cabinet that included departments of treasury, war and foreign affairs, which led to the successful removal of foreign soldiers and flags from the 13 states and their western territories. He also promoted the statehood of western territories on the other side of the Appalachians. But, what gains him most attention each year was his recognition of Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November, which we still recognize today, although it didn't become a paid national holiday until 1942.

The Confederation Congress took over the duties of the Continental Congress, which first met in 1774 and was presided over by Peyton Randolph, who you can argue was the first President just as much as Hanson. However, this Congress only met twice between 1774 and 1781. Philadelphia served as the capital of the fledgling United States, but most of the decisions were made on the battlefield during this time.

You can challenge your friends and family at the table to name the founder of Thanksgiving. You can even hint that he was the first President, of the Confederation Congress anyway.

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Dylan in America

Whoever it was in 1969 who named the very first Bob Dylan bootleg album “Great White Wonder” may have had a mischievous streak. There are any number of ways you can interpret the title — most boringly, the cover was blank, like the Beatles’ “White Album” — but I like to see a sly allusion to “Moby-Dick.” In the seven years since the release of his first commercial record, Dylan had become the white whale of 20th-century popular song, a wild, unconquerable and often baffling force of musical nature who drove fans and critics Ahab-mad in their efforts to spear him, lash him to the hull and render him merely comprehensible. --- Bruce Handy, NYTimes ____________________________________________ I figured we can start fresh with Bob Dylan. Couldn't resist this photo of him striking a Woody Guthrie pose. Looks like only yesterday. Here is a link to the comments building up to this reading group.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

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Team of Rivals Reading Group

''Team of Rivals" is also an America ''coming-of-age" saga. Lincoln, Seward, Chase et al. are sketched as being part of a ''restless generation," born when Founding Fathers occupied the White House and the Louisiana Purchase netted nearly 530 million new acres to be explored. The Western Expansion motto of this burgeoning generation, in fact, was cleverly captured in two lines of Stephen Vincent Benet's verse: ''The stream uncrossed, the promise still untried / The metal sleeping in the mountainside." None of the protagonists in ''Team of Rivals" hailed from the Deep South or Great Plains. _______________________________ From a review by Douglas Brinkley, 2005

Dispatches from Vilnius

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