Since the topic of last month was Mother's Day it seems only fair to use this month to focus on Father's Day.
A Short History of Father's Day
Interestingly enough the history of Father's Day is intricately tied into the history of Mother's Day, which may come as no surprise. According to my research the biggest promoter of Father's Day was Sonora Dodd who wanted a special day to commemorate her father, William Smart. It appears that Sonora was inspired by a Mother's Day sermon held in Spokane, WA., in 1908.
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Mr. Smart was widowed when his wife died while delivering their sixth child.
As Sonora grew into adulthood she came to understand the many sacrifices her father had to make while raising six children by himself. She came to view her father as a loving, selfless courageous man, one who was more than worthy of having a day set aside to honor him and those like him. In 1909, Sonora approached her minister and others in Spokane about having a church service dedicated to fathers on June 5, her father's birthday. It turned out that date was too soon for her minister to prepare a proper service, so he spoke a few weeks later on June 19th. From then on, the state of Washington celebrated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.
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In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson approved of the idea of a national Father's Day but it wasn't until 1924 that President Calvin Coolidge made it into that national event saying that Father's Day would "establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations." Since then it has been tradition to celebrate Father's Day the third Sunday in June but it didn't become "official" until 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring it "Father's Day".
"The family that brushes together stays together!"
Somehow it seems fitting that fathers owe their day to mothers and a daughter.
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