"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."

 In the spirit of the season, we’d like to present this Christmas letter written on September 21, 1897, by the editor of the Sun (now known as The New York Sun) that has become part of a popular Christmas folklore in the US.  Though unsigned, the editorial was written by Francis Pharcellus Church, one of the newspaper’s editors in answer to a question from Virginia O’Hanlon.  Hope you enjoy it as much as the original readers did!

We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

“Dear Editor,

I am eight years old.  Some of my little friends say 

there is no Santa Claus.  Papa says, ‘If you see it in The Sun 

it’s so.’  Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

15 W. 95th St.”

Virginia, your little friends are wrong.  They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age.  They do not believe except [what] they see.  They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds.  All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s are little.  In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.  He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.  Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus.  It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.  There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.  We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight.  The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus!  You might as well not believe in fairies!  You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa coming down, what would that prove?  Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus.  The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.  Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn?  Of course not, but that’s no proof they are not there.  Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart.  Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond.  Is it all real?  Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus!  Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever.  A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

More About Virginia O'Hanlon:

She was born Laura Virginia O'Hanlon on July 20, 1889 in New York City. Virginia was married for a time in 1910 to Edward Douglas by whom she had a daughter, Laura Temple.

She graduated from Hunter College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1910, received a Master's degree in education from Columbia University in 1912 and earned a doctorate from Fordham University. Virginia went on to work as a teacher and principal in the New York City school system for forty-seven years, retiring in 1959. She was dedicated to the idea that all children, regardless of social background, should have the same educational opportunities and worked her whole life toward that goal.

Throughout her life as an educator and activist for children's rights, Virginia O'Hanlon continued to receive mail from people around the world, curious about her famous letter. In her replies she always included a copy of Francis Pharcellus Church's editorial. Virginia is quoted as saying, "All I did was ask the question, is there really a Santa Claus? I did not do anything special. Of course, Mr. Church's editorial was so beautiful (that) everyone remembered his words. It was Mr. Church who wrote the famous letter." We know that Virginia did something wonderful too.

Virginia died on May 13, 1971 at the age of 81 at a nursing home in upstate New York. Her legacy lives on.

Happy Holidays to one and all from the

Parsonsfield-Porter Historical Society!