Column Science & Society

Why the Thanksgiving myth persists, according to science

Memory often favors a tidy narrative over the messier reality of history

By Sujata Gupta

Social Sciences Writer

A vintage Thanksgiving Day postcard shows a big turkey in the foreground, with three others in the background near a sign that says "Thanksgiving Proclamation" and an ax leaning against a tree stump.

Since the Civil War, U.S. presidents have regularly issued Thanksgiving proclamations, as illustrated in this vintage postcard.

Archive Photos/Getty Images

Ask someone in the United States to name five events important to the country’s foundation and there’s a good chance they’ll mention the Pilgrims.

That’s what researchers found a few years ago when they put that question to some 2,000 people. The Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence, Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas and the Civil War topped the list.