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Sarah Josepha Hale, the literary grande dame born in 1788 in Newport, didn't lack for accomplishments. She persuaded Abraham Lincoln, after a determined letter-writing campaign, to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday. She was an abolitionist and the editor of Godey's Lady's Book, which made her the first female editor of any American magazine.
She had 30 published books to her credit, among them one of the first American novels to criticize slavery. She helped raise funds to complete the Bunker Hill monument in Boston. She was also a teacher who wrote about the importance of education and equality for women in traditionally male professions such as medicine. And, even if you haven't read a word of her novels, you probably know by heart the words to a little ditty she wrote in 1830: "Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow."
In 1956, the Richards Free Library in Newport named a literary award in her honor, which is given annually to a distinguished writer with a body of work and a connection to New England. Robert Frost was the first recipient, and Richard Russo the most recent.
But what Hale has not had until now is a public monument in her birthplace that recognizes her role in both the history of the town and the nation.
So when a Newport resident approached the trustees of the library and suggested that there be a memorial to the town's most
famous citizen, they didn't hesitate. This same resident, who prefers to remain anonymous, has underwritten the entire cost of the bronze memorial, which stands in a small park outside...