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Publication of the Editorial

Name: Publication of the Editorial
Start: 1897-09-21
Location: New York City

When: September 21, 1897
Where: New York City
Part of: 'Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus' published in the New York Sun

Francis Pharcellus Church wrote a 416-word anonymous response to Virginia O'Hanlon's letter, published in The Sun on September 21, 1897.

The editorial, titled "Is There a Santa Claus?", began with "Virginia, your little friends are wrong." It was published shortly after the start of the school year in New York City. Church's authorship remained uncredited until after his death in 1906.

Sources

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-03

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.