Prompt Cast
The Origins and Controversy of "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
TLDR The nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" may have originated from a true story in Massachusetts where a girl named Mary Sawyer brought a lamb to school. However, there is controversy surrounding the involvement of Sarah Joseph Hale and the true origins of the poem.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" may have had a real-life origin in Massachusetts, where a girl named Mary Sawyer allegedly saved a lamb and brought it to school in 1815.
02:12
The nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" originated from a true story in Massachusetts where a girl named Mary Sawyer brought a lamb to school, and a boy named John Rollstone wrote a poem about it before he died of tuberculosis.
04:25
Mary Had a Little Lamb was actually written by Sarah Joseph Ahale, a native of Newport, New Hampshire, who also set up the first Thanksgiving in the United States as a national holiday.
06:34
Sarah Josepha Hale, the writer and editor of the first women's magazine in the U.S., met Lowell Mason in Boston and they collaborated to turn her poems into songs for children in schools.
09:05
Mason and Hale collaborated to write songs together, including a version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with a different melody than the one we know today, and Mary Sawyer believed that the first three verses of Hale's poem were similar to a poem written by John Rolstone about her true story.
11:24
Henry Ford, a fan of Mary Sawyer, bought the original frame from the red schoolhouse and wrote a 60-page book about her story, which caused controversy with the town of Newport, New Hampshire.
13:35
The controversy surrounding Mary Sawyer and Sarah Joseph Hale's involvement in the creation of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" remains a mystery, but the poem ends with a sweet message about being kind to animals.
Categories:
Society & Culture
