In 1897, Manhattan 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to The Sun, a prominent New York City newspaper, asking a question that was on the minds of curious youngsters of her day, just as it continues to be today: “Is there a Santa Claus?”

One of the paper’s editors, Francis Pharcellus Church, took the opportunity to craft an eloquent and moving response that still inspires hope and faith more than a century later. The editorial — originally printed in the Sept. 21, 1897 edition of The Sun — is known as the most reprinted editorial ever to run in any English-language newspaper. It appears in its entirety below.

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 8 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

“115 West Ninety Fifth Street”

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think

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