Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
(December 2008)
With Christmas being a busy season we have decided to do a little piece of history that is not local, but one in which we have all heard of for many years. Hope you enjoy this little piece of history and it brings back some memories for all of you.
Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.
Francis P. Church's editorial, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," first appeared in the The New York Sun in 1897 and was reprinted annually until 1949, when the paper went out of business.
Francis Pharcellus Church