The History Of Fathers Day

The History Of Fathers Day

Sonora Dodd, of Washington, first had the idea of a "fathers day." She thought of the idea for Fathers Day while listening to a Mothers Day sermon in 1909.

Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civial War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastren Washington State.

After Sonora became a adult she realized the selflessness her father showen in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonoras father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Fathers Day celebration in Spokeane, Washington on the 19t of June 1910.

President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, suported the idea of a national Fathers Day. Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidental proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Fathers Day. President Richard Nixion signed the law which finally made it permanment in 1972.

jerry whilson 1999, 2005