A Short History of Father’s Day

Father's Day is a special day to celebrate fathers and father figures. It is celebrated in the United States of America on the third Sunday in June. Your Harrison wishes all fathers a Happy Father’s Day.

The Origins of Father’s Day

Father's Day was created by Sonora Smart Dodd who wanted a day to honor her father, William Jackson Smart. William Jackson Smart was a Civil War veteran who raised his six children on his own.  Dodd thought that there should be a complimentary Father’s Day to Mother’s Day.  The first Father’s Day was celebrated at the Central Methodist Episcopal Church in Spokane, Washington. Initially, Dodd wanted to have Father’s Day on June 5^th, her father’s birthday, but circumstances dictated that its first celebration fell on the Third Sunday of June of 1909 and that became the day Father’s Day is celebrated in the United States of America.

A Sixty-Three Year Wait (1909 to 1972)

Although Father’s Day was first celebrated in 1909 and various Presidents of the United States supported making it a Nation Holiday including Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Lyndon B. Johnson. It was President Richard Nixon that made Father’s Day an official national holiday in 1972 after a Bill sponsoring such a designation passed in Congress.

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Graphic courtesy of Vectezzy.com