Father’s Day – Hooray for Fathers Everywhere! Where Did it Come From? June 15 2018
Some express cynicism around holidays like Father’s Day, claiming these are just “Hallmark Holidays,” designed to sell cards and extra gifts. Few understand that the first Father’s Day occurred following a mining accident in Monongah, Virginia, in 1907, that killed 361 men. The Sunday sermon dedicated to these men and their families became the first Father’s Day event in the United States.
Inspired by the Mother’s Day holiday (which dates back to ancient Greece and Mothering Sunday, started in England in the 1600s) and by her own father who raised her and her 5 other brothers and sisters alone, Sonora Smart Dodd and her siblings began pushing to have an official day set aside for fathers. Their devotion to their families and love of their children moved many, and the first official Father’s Day celebration occurred in Washington State on June 19, 1910, 30+ years after Mother’s Day had been established.
The celebration of Fathers moved around the country and in 1924, Calvin Coolidge urged all states to have such a holiday. It wasn’t until 1972, with Richard Nixon as president, that Father’s Day was officially established as a national day of recognition. The third Sunday in June was chosen as the annual day to recognize fathers.
So, here’s to the fathers of the world who devote themselves in love to their children and their families! Hallmark cards or not, June 17th belongs to you.