Giving Community Thanks
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Thanksgiving is man's response to his Creator. In an unusual early expression of interfaith good will, a rabbi, a priest, and Protestant ministers started in 1907 at Bush Temple in Dallas a community worship service of thanksgiving which continued until 1918. The 100th anniversary of Dallas in 1941 was a service of thanksgiving and dedication in the Hall of State at Fair Park. In the war year of 1942, a Thanksgiving Day service was held at the Palace Theatre; this was repeated annually for 16 years. To celebrate thanksgiving at all times--not just annually--a foundation purchased land in 1968 for Thanks-Giving Square, here in downtown Dallas. People on this continent have given God thanks in their own way, beginning with the Indians centuries ago. The Spanish in 1541 recorded a Thanksgiving by Fray Juan Padilla of Coronado's Expedition in Palo Duro Canyon near present Amarillo. In 1842, President Sam Houston asked the Republic of Texas to give thanks for its place among the independent nations of the earth. After statehood, governors started in 1849 to issue annual proclamations fulfilling this universal tradition so long honored in Texas. (1971)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This marker traces the tradition of public thanksgiving in Texas, from Native peoples and a 1541 service by a friar of Coronado's expedition to Sam Houston's 1842 call for the Republic to give thanks. In Dallas, a rabbi, a priest, and Protestant ministers launched a shared community thanksgiving service in 1907, an early act of interfaith goodwill that led eventually to the 1968 founding of downtown Thanks-Giving Square.
Why it matters
It captures a distinctly American blending of faiths and cultures around a common act of gratitude, from Indigenous origins to a modern civic monument.
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Related people
- · Sam Houston
- · Juan Padilla
Related events
- · Thanks-Giving Square founded 1968
Themes & tags
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