Even before the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth in 1621, Thanksgiving had been celebrated in the U.S. in various ways, on various dates. For example, Spanish explorers held a Thanksgiving feast in Texas in 1541. During the 1700s, many colonies observed the day with prayer and fasting. After the Revolutionary War, a number of Presidents issued proclamations declaring various Thanksgiving Days. A war-weary President Lincoln issued one such proclamation in 1863. After some decades of confusion over exactly when in November the nation would observe the holiday, in 1941 Congress finally set it as the fourth Thursday.
While closed Thanksgiving Day, the Mendik Library will be open the following Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.