Warm Thanksgiving wishes from the American Heritage Center to you and your loved ones!
We’re excited to share a collection of treasured Thanksgiving memories preserved in our archives. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we’re spotlighting cherished memories from Wyoming’s past, preserved in papers of Grace Raymond Hebard, Lora Webb Nichols, and John Stephen and Frances Jennings Casement. We would also like to highlight longstanding traditions across the country that Wyomingites have participated in.
We begin with memories made on Thanksgiving in the territory of Wyoming. Twenty-four years before Wyoming became a state, a wife penned a note to her husband, detailing her day, and briefly mentions how she and their family spent the day of thanksgiving. She wrote on November 29th, 1866:
[O]ne Thanksgiving has passed like all other days- Pa spoke of going to church last evening- but when morning came he seemed to have made up his mind to go to work and has been hard at it all day. The rest of us have stayed close at home. You and I were invited to the party at the Seminary tonight- but of course I can’t go for I have no beau … I am much better of my cold but not entirely over it. Little John keeps well and grows finely. I can see him grow every day- and he is right handsome too I think, he is good natured and giggles at everybody that looks at him.1
This letter is from the John Stephen (known as “Jack”) and Frances (“Frank”) Jennings Casement papers and was written by Frank to her husband while he oversaw the construction of Union Pacific Railroad tracks, which traversed what is now southern Wyoming. The letter provides a glimpse into the daily lives of a family often separated by Jack’s railroad career, even during holidays. Frank goes on to mention visits from other women in the community, and a possible trip to the grave of the son they lost the year prior. She describes her continued grief over the loss of a child, and implores her husband to return home soon, because she missed him. Frank also attempts to balance the letter between joy and sorrow, to keep her husband’s spirits high while away from the family. This rather quiet observation of the day of thanksgiving differs from the other collections highlighted here, which make a much larger emphasis on the day.
In 1928, the Thanksgiving declaration by Wyoming Governor Frank C. Emerson encouraged the longstanding tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving in the United States and extols some of the history of the day, as well as encouraged the people of Wyoming to pause and give their thanks as is tradition. The proclamation reads as follows:
Since Pilgrim fathers first paused in their stern pursuit of livelihood to give thanks…for the simple blessings that had come to them through the year, the people of America have observed Thanksgiving as a great national festival…This year of 1928 has witnessed progress throughout our broad land in greater measure than ever before. In our own beloved state of Wyoming the harvest has been bountiful, labor has been plentiful, and the material wellbeing of our citizens has been greatly advanced. Well it is that at this season, …we should again set that day apart on which to take time from our busy daily pursuits of work and pleasure to gauge the manifold blessings that the year has brought to us…2
The proclamation above can be found in the Grace Raymond Hebard papers at the American Heritage Center, along with other thanksgiving proclamations and reactions to proclamations issued by state governors and the President of the United States between 1913 and 1930. Many of these proclamations describe the state of Wyoming, or the Union, before giving reasons to give thanks that year. Most often thanks are given in praise of jobs or plentiful crops, and a bright future for the children of the state. Such as the proclamation made by President Coolidge, pictured below, given in the same year as Governor Emerson’s.
While the selections from Grace Raymond Hebard’s papers highlighted here include more of a state and national viewpoint of the Thanksgiving holiday, the Lora Webb Nichols papers provide a glimpse of ordinary family life. Nichols, an early 20th century photographer, captured the domestic, social, and economic aspects of life in Encampment, Wyoming. In 1935, she moved to California for health reasons and worked at the Stockton Children’s Home, eventually becoming its director. In her collection, there is an image of a table set for Thanksgiving dinner, shown below. The image is taken November 25th, 1943, at the children’s home. It shows a long table with many seats set elegantly for the first course with dishes and pitchers waiting off to the side for further courses. This table could be reminiscent of those being set all over Wyoming and the United States for this year’s Thanksgiving feast.
Also found in the Nichols papers are a series of photographs of Lora and friends at a Thanksgiving dinner party in 1958. By this time, Lora had moved back home to Encampment. One image, shown below, depicts Lora and friends and family at her family home, Willow Glen. Pictured in the image with her are Al Hovey, Nancy, Bill Wilson, her daughter Vera and Faye. Lora and her friends are all dressed up, seated around another elegantly set table after the meal has begun. Again, the scene is reminiscent of many current Thanksgiving traditions, including dressing up and sharing the day with friends and family.
Images like those in Lora’s collection don’t look too different from what people have shared on Thanksgiving across social media in the age of the internet. Other images commonly shared are those from iconic celebrations like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade held in New York City. Marching bands across the country compete to earn a spot in this famous event, travel to the city and perform on the parade route to enormous crowds. For example, the state of Wyoming has been represented by the Wyoming All State Marching Band at many parades like this over the years. In 1994 and 2012 they represented the state at the Macy’s parade. And in other years they have performed in Thanksgiving parades in Hawaii (2008 and 2014) and Philadelphia (2018).
Whether your Thanksgiving tradition involves gathering around an elegantly set table or cheering on a parade, you are part of a legacy that stretches across generations. From the American Heritage Center, we wish you a Thanksgiving filled with warmth, gratitude, and cherished memories.
Post contributed AHC Processing Archivist Brittany Heye.
To see other examples of Lora Webb Nichols’ photography, visit our Virmuze exhibit “Lora Webb Nichols,” which features 16 photographs from her collection of more than 23,000 images documenting life in Encampment, Wyoming, from 1899 onward.
References
- University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, John Stephen and Frances Jennings Casement Papers, Accession Number 308, Box 1, Folder 3 (use copies in Box 1A).
- “Thanksgiving Proclaimed,” University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Grace Raymond Hebard Papers, Accession Number 400008, Box 18, Folder 8.
