The third Sunday of June is generally
observed as Father's Day throughout the United States. Although an
isolated church service in Fairmont, West Virginia, honored
fathers in July 1908 at the suggestion of Jessica
("Baba") Clinton Clayton, it is Sonora Louise Smart Dodd
of Spokane, Washington who is most frequently credited with
originating - in 1909 - the idea for a Father's Day observance
that spread far beyond the confines of her own church. Her
inspiration was her own father, William Smart, a Civil War veteran
who had been widowed when his daughter and five sons were very
young. Realization of the difficulties he had, and appreciation
for his constant devotion to his family sparked Mrs. Dodd's desire
to honor all fathers. At her urging the Spokane Ministerial
Association sponsored the first Father's Day Celebration. This
first celebration was held in Spokane on the third Sunday of June
- the month of her father's birth - in 1910, with local ministers
calling the attention of their congregations to the appreciation
fathers deserved. William Jennings Bryan, complimented Mrs. Dodd
on the inspiration for Father's Day , and remarked," too much
emphasis cannot be placed upon the relation between parent and
child." The observance of Father's Day did not spread rapidly
- not, for instance, as rapidly as Mother's Day, whose celebration
in this country predated it only slightly.
Several people in various other parts of the United States also
hit upon the idea of a Father's Day independently - though to this
day Mrs. Dodd is credited with beginning the celebration.
President Woodrow Wilson officially approved the idea of Father's
Day in 1916. Harry C. Meek, president of the Uptown Lions Club of
Chicago called upon both President Warren Harding and President
Calvin Coolidge in unsuccessful attempts to have the day marked
with issuance of a presidential proclamation. But, both were
apprehensive about possible commercialization of the day. However,
most state governors each year proclaim that Father's Day will be
observed on the third Sunday in June in their states.
Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson issued a Proclamation that
Father's Day be observed on the third Sunday in June. On Father's
Day in 1970 Mrs. Dodd, still living in Spokane, stressed the fact
the one very important, timely, practical value attached to
Father's Day was to provide an occasion for children to express
appreciation of their fathers and for fathers to acknowledge their
responsibilities to their children. God bless all Fathers past,
and present. |
|
