|
|
|
|
 Preshow Return to index of stories... |
Next on a special a special edition of Outlook. The New Hampshire woman responsible for making Thanksgiving a national holiday. Plus Granite State novelist Ernest Hebert brings to life 18th century New Hampshire and the first Americans. Plus, favorite leftovers and other passions of the holiday. |
| Intro Thanksgiving Return to index of stories... |
Good Evening. Happy Thanksgiving. Welcome to a special edition of New Hampshire Outlook. Did you ever wonder how Thanksgiving came to be a national holiday? Fritz Wetherbee shares a piece of New Hampshire history with us. It's an encore presentation of a story about a remarkable woman from Newport, New Hampshire. |
| THANKSGIVING Return to index of stories... |
VO: She was not a feminist. She would have bristled if you had called her a feminist, but she did more to further the cause for women's rights than any other woman of her time, and although she exhorted women to be the help mates of their husbands, her own personal life was an example of independence and strength and was an inspiration to thousands. She was smart and tenacious and indefatigable and crammed into a long illustrious life amazing accomplishments. She organized the movement that raised the money for the Bunker Hill Monument. She provided much of the impotence that saved George Washington's home--Mount Vernon. She was a founder of the Seamen's Aid Society. She helped to found and influence the curriculum at Vassar College, and it was through her efforts that mostly women were hired as faculty there. For forty years, she edited one of the most successful magazines in America. She knew nine presidents and was held in high respect by all the literary and political figures of the day, and she is the person who wrote "Mary had a little lamb." And this is the woman most responsible for Thanksgiving Day; her name is Sarah Josepha Hale, and she was born in 1778 Newport, NH. Lady1: She was the first American woman to earn her living and support her family through her writing. VO: Her maiden name was Sarah Bule, and the school she taught at was in the western part of Newport in the community called Gile. In 1813, Ms. Bule married one David Hale, a local lawyer. For nine years, it was a secure and good life. And then. Lady1: What was the tragedy was when she had five children and then David Hale--her lawyer husband--died of pneumonia and died suddenly, and it was two weeks before her son William, so she was left with five children. VO: David had been Worshipful Master at the local Masonic Lodge and after his death, the Lodge set Sarah and her sister-in-law Hannah up in the millerary business making hats. Hannah was very good at making hats, but Sarah was terrible at it, but what Sarah could do was write. And she got together a small book of verse, which with the help of the Masons was published. And in 1828, she received an offer from a Boston publisher to become editor of a brand new women's literary magazine. But in order to accept the offer, she would have to place her children with relatives. It was a hard choice, but in the end, it was all she could do. So, all but the youngest, William, was sent to relatives or to school and Sarah went to Boston where she lived in a rooming house and one of the borders in that rooming house was a young medical student and writer Oliver Wendall Holmes. And in his autobiographical treatise "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table", Holmes refers to Sarah as the pale school mistress in her morning dress. Sarah was a success, and her success attracted the attention of Lewis Godey. Now, Godey was the publisher of "Godey's Lady Book", one of the most successful magazine's in America, and he offered Sarah the editorship if she moved to Philadelphia where it was published. And for forty years, Sarah Hale guided this great organ of public opinion. As to Thanksgiving. Lady1: She really thought that when she started proposing it that she didn't think she was gonna take a thirty-eight years from then to get Lincoln to sign it. So, there it is. The story of a great lady who incidentally is remembered each year in her hometown of Newport with the awarding of the Hale medal, and also remembered at Thanksgiving, each year--at least at my house where after the turkey and the pumpkin pie someone raises a cup and says to Sarah Josepha Hale, 'God Bless Her.' |
| Intro Ernie Hebert Return to index of stories... |
New Hampshire novelist Ernest Hebert has long been known for his realistic stories about modern, working class life here in New England - until this past October, that is, when his latest novel, "The Old American" was published. So far, it has received overwhelmingly positive reviews - especially from the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune and National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." Producer-writer Paul Lally traveled to Dartmouth College where Ernie teaches to find out just why HE decided to travel back in time to the 18th century to write about Americans who used to live - right here in New Hampshire. |
| ERNIE HEBERT Return to index of stories... |
PKG ERNIE HEBERT Man 1: The "Old American" is an intriguing title because and it is a little bit deceptive. Man 2: "The Old American" is really the story of Nathan Blais' captivity, but what is more important as a writer, and I'd have to read it too, it's the story of an old Indian chief trying to hold together his village of Indian refugees from New England. Well, he is called "American" because in those days there was no America. It was English colonies, French colonies; there were some Dutch people around, and there were Indians who were called Americans. Man 1: And this is in the seventeen.seventeen hundreds? Man 2: Seventeen hundreds--Yeah. So.my protagonist is not a Native American--he's an American. I wrote the entire book and never used the word "Indian" in it. All the natives are referred to as Americans, and the white people are referred to as the English or French. Another reason that I use that title is that one thing that I ran across in my research was that.things that we'd think of as American ideals today--kind of 'do your own thing' or realiance upon the individual before the group.consensus democracy. These values really from my reading come from Native American culture. They don't come from Europe, and those values were exported to Europe, brought back here and eventually became part of what we have today--the Western Democracy, the United States of America. But they are Native American values, so I wanted to kind of show that connection between Native American and what we think is American today. So my protagonist is called "The Old American" for that reason. Man 1: Because it takes awhile to get used to because when I read it, I'd see that word "American" and I'd think contemporary American. 'Oh no wait! That's Ernie's American, which is the first American.' But it is a nice teaching method, that there is a saying that people hate to be taught but they love to learn. And I think with this I found by the time I got through the book, I understood America that way that Caucus Meteor, who is the chief is the older, and what a name, Caucus Meteor? Man 2: Well Caucus in a lot of dictionaries is an Algonquin word and my--the tribe I'm dealing with is an Algonquin guy, and so, I thought that it fit, and he's the son of an Indian who the colonists called King Phillip. In fact, my guy Caucus Meteor imagines himself a king. |
| Hebert Book Bump Return to index of stories... |
"The Old American" is published by the University Press of New England. You can read more about it, and about the author at their website: www.upne.com |
| Intro Leftovers Return to index of stories... |
There's nothing like sharing the bounty of a Thanksgiving table with family and friends. There's also nothing quite like the after thanksgiving meals we create. as we discovered in a recent survey of the friends and staff of public television. OUT: |
| Intro Calendar Return to index of stories... |
This holiday weekend there are plenty of things to see and do around the Granite State. Check out our weekly calendar. |
| calendar Return to index of stories... |
Thanksgiving Work-Bee Gathering 11/23-11/26 Sugar Hill 823-5522 _______________________________________________________________ 20th Annual County Craftsmen of NH 11/24-11/25 Wayfarer Inn - Bedford 224-0060 ________________________________________________________________ Museum of New Hampshire History 11/24/2000 - free admission Concord 226-3189 ext.200 _____________________________________________________________ Horse Drawn Rides 11/24 - 11/26 Bethlehem 444-6228 ________________________________________________________________________ Traditionally Yours 11/24 Jackson 383-9356 __________________________________________________ Canaan Christmas Crafts Fair 11/25 523-4501 _________________________________________________________-- Lighting of the Lights on the Chapel 11/25 Enfield 632-4346 ________________________________________________________ 8th Annual Plum Pudding Arts/Crafts Show 11/25 Nashua 528-4014 _________________________________________________ Downtown Winter Holiday Stroll 11/25 Nashua 603-882-3281 _______________________________________________ Santa Arrives by Dog Sled 11/25 Waterville Valley 236-8175 __________________________________________________ |
| website Return to index of stories... |
For information on tonight's program, and links to our guests and interviews, visit our web site at nhptv.o-r-g. You can give us your feedback, see and hear streaming video and audio of our broadcasts and participate in our daily poll. |
| Tomorrow Return to index of stories... |
Tomorrow on New Hampshire Outlook - A special edition of NH Outlook: The Money Show. When families gather around the holiday table this weekend, many thoughts will turn to shopping and money. How do you start a conversation about death, taxes and inheritance? Two financial experts from the popular radio show "Money Matters" join us with the bottom line on preparing for our financial futures. |
| Goodnight Return to index of stories... |
That's it for this special edition of New Hampshire Outlook. For all of us here at New Hampshire Public Television, thanks for joining us. Stay tuned for Scientific American Frontiers. We'll be back tomorrow at 7:30. Good night. |
| founders Return to index of stories... |
Thanks to our founding sponsors who have provided major funding for the production of New Hampshire Outlook: New Hampshire Charitable Foundadtion Public Service of New Hampshire Alice J. Reen Charitable Trust Putnam Foundation Stratford Foundation |
| Thankful Return to index of stories... |
Good evening everyone. Welcome to a special Thanksgiving edition of New Hampshire Outlook. Tonight. we begin with a look at what everybody may be thinking about today. OUT: |
| PROMO Return to index of stories... |
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. a special edition all about your money. Two financial experts from the popular radio show MONEY MATTERS join us with the bottom line on preparing for our financial futures. Join us tonight at 7:30 only on New Hampshire Outlook. |
| PROMO MONDAY Return to index of stories... |
Monday on New Hampshire Outlook. schools to careers. We'll look at a New Hampshire program that is bridging the gap between theory and practice for thousands of school children. Join us Monday at 7:30 only on New Hampshire Outlook. |
| MONDAY TONIGHT Return to index of stories... |
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. schools to careers. We'll look at a New Hampshire program that is bridging the gap between theory and practice for thousands of school children. Be sure to tune in tonight at 7:30 only on New Hampshire Outlook. |