Editing Francis Pharcellus Church (section)

=== "Yes, Virginia" ===
{{Main|Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus}}
In 1897, Mitchell gave Church a letter written to ''The Sun'' by 8-year-old [[Virginia O'Hanlon]], who wanted to know whether there truly is a Santa Claus.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Turner|first=Hy B.|url=http://archive.org/details/whengiantsruleds0000turn|title=When giants ruled : the story of Park Row, New York's great newspaper street|date=1999|publisher=New York : Fordham University Press|isbn=978-0-8232-1943-8|pages=129–130}}</ref> In Church's 416-word response,<ref name=":6" /> he wrote that Santa exists "as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Editorial Board|title='Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus': Read the iconic 1897 editorial that continues to bring Christmas joy|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/yes-virginia-article-1.1556978|website=New York Daily News|publication-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> "[[Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus]]"<ref>{{Cite web|title='Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus'|url=http://www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/yes-virginia/|access-date=September 21, 2017|website=Newseum|language=en-US}}</ref> became Church's best-known work and the most reprinted editorial in newspaper history.<ref name="new details">{{cite journal|last=Campbell|first=W. Joseph|date=Spring 2005|title=The grudging emergence of American journalism's classic editorial: New details about 'Is There A Santa Claus?'|url=http://academic2.american.edu/~wjc/santa.htm|journal=[[American Journalism Review]]|location=[[University of Maryland, College Park]]|publisher=[[Philip Merrill College of Journalism]]|volume=22|issue=2|pages=41–61|access-date=October 29, 2007|doi=10.1080/08821127.2005.10677639|s2cid=146945285}}</ref>

Mitchell reported that Church, who was initially reluctant to write a response, produced it "in a short time"<ref name=":3" /> during an afternoon.<ref name="Christmas A Candid History">{{Cite book|last=Forbes|first=Bruce David|url=https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520933729|title=Christmas A Candid History|year= 2007|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-93372-9|location=Berkeley|doi=10.1525/9780520933729}}</ref>{{Rp|page=90}} Upon publication on September 21, 1897, journalist [[Charles Anderson Dana]] described Church's writing as "Real literature," and said, "Might be a good idea to reprint it every Christmas{{Em dash}}yes, and even tell who wrote it!"<ref name=":5"/>

The editorial was first reprinted five years later to answer readers' demand for it. ''The Sun'' started reprinting the editorial annually in 1920 at Christmas, and continued until the paper's bankruptcy in 1950.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Applebome |first=Peter |date=December 13, 2006 |title=Tell Virginia the Skeptics Are Still Wrong |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/nyregion/13towns.html |access-date=December 20, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Because ''The Sun'' traditionally did not byline their editorials, Church was not known to be the author until his death in 1906.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sebakijje|first=Lena|title=Research Guides: Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus: Topics in Chronicling America: Introduction|url=https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-yes-virginia/introduction|access-date=December 20, 2021|website=|publisher=Library of Congress|language=en}}</ref> The editorial is just one of two whose authorship ''The Sun'' disclosed.<ref name=":6"/>

The editorial, which has been described as "the most famous editorial in history", has been translated into 20 languages, set to music, and adapted into at least two movies.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bowler|first=Gerald|url=http://archive.org/details/santaclausbiogra0000bowl|title=Santa Claus : a biography|date=2005|publisher=Toronto : McClelland & Stewart|isbn=978-0-7710-1532-8|pages=244–245}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Vinciguerra|first=Thomas|date=September 21, 1997|title=Yes, Virginia, a Thousand Times Yes|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/21/weekinreview/yes-virginia-a-thousand-times-yes.html|access-date=December 20, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A book based on the editorial, ''Is there a Santa Claus''?, was published in 1921.<ref name=":3" />