Events mark 200th anniversary of ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’
TROY — The 200th anniversary of the publication of “A Visit from St. Nicholas” in the Dec. 23, 1823 edition of the Troy Sentinel newspaper will be celebrated Saturday by the Troy Public Library, while the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York City will mark it with the debut of a 15-minute film Sunday on Christmas Eve.
The generally accepted author of the famous poem that’s become a part of American culture is Clement Clarke Moore, who was a devout Episcopalian and a professor at the seminary in Manhattan. The beloved poem is best known as “The Night Before Christmas.”
The Troy Public Library will hold the ‘Twas 200 Year Publication Anniversary Event, from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 23 at the main library at 100 Second St.
The seminary will release
“Mr. Moore’s Gift” online at its website www.gts.edu/mrmooresgift. The film “tells the story of how author and theologian came to write his poem, ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas,’ commonly known as ‘’Twas the Night Before Christmas,’ ” the seminary said on its website, announcing the production.
The seminary commissioned the short film to celebrate Moore’s writing of the poem. The seminary has strong ties to Moore, who first wrote the poem for his children before it made its way to Troy, where it was published anonymously at the newspaper offices at 225 River St.
“But Mr. Moore did more than simply enchant generations of children with a beloved Christmas poem, he also gifted much of his land to The General Theological Seminary. His legacy lives on in the very grounds which support this special institution, and it is his depiction of St. Nicholas which touches the hearts of people around the globe, who pass on their gifts of love each Christmas,” the seminary states on its website promoting “Mr. Moore’s Gift.”
Troy has commemorated the bicentennial of the poem with the Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce, Hart Cluett Museum and the Troy Public Library cooperating to hold events throughout December.
There are believed to be just four surviving copies of the Dec. 23, 1823 edition of the Troy Sentinel in which the poem appeared. The Troy Public Library has one of the those four copies in its collection of Troy newspapers.