Father's Day
Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June in the United States, honoring fathers and father figures. The modern observance traces its roots to events in the early 20th century, particularly initiated by Sonora Louise Smart Dodd in 1909, who sought to recognize her father's dedication in raising a family alone after the loss of his wife. The first official celebration occurred in Spokane, Washington, in 1910, with local church services emphasizing appreciation for fathers. This initiative garnered support from community leaders and eventually led to proclamations at various governmental levels. Although the idea encountered some opposition, particularly regarding traditional masculine ideals and commercialization, it gained traction through the decades. By 1972, Father’s Day was officially recognized as a national holiday. Today, it is one of the most significant days for greeting card sales, with millions of cards exchanged annually, and similar observances are held worldwide, though not always on the same date.
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Father's Day
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 Clinton Clayton after a mining disaster devastated the community, it is Sonora Louise Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, who is most frequently credited with originating the idea for a Father's Day observance in 1909 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 must have had raising his young, motherless family on a farm in eastern Washington and appreciation for his constant devotion to his family sparked Dodd's desire to honor all fathers.
Because her idea for the observance of Father's Day centered around special church services, Dodd discussed the idea with her minister. Through him she put the idea to the Spokane Ministerial Association and the Spokane Ministers Alliance. Members of the clergy approved of the project. With the city's Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) also joining in sponsorship, the first Father's Day was celebrated in Spokane on the third Sunday of June in 1910, with local ministers calling the attention of their congregations to the appreciation fathers deserved. June 19 was the actual date of that initial observance. The first Father's Day proclamations were released by the mayor of Spokane and the governor of Washington, M. E. Hay, who followed the lead of Spokane in setting the third Sunday in June as the date for the observance. The orator and political leader William Jennings Bryan also endorsed the idea, stating that "too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the relation between parent and child."
President Woodrow Wilson publicly approved of the idea for a national Father's Day in 1916. While Wilson was still president, a Father's Day of a different kind was observed on November 24, 1918, when at the suggestion of Stars and Stripes, the official newspaper of the World War I American Expeditionary Force in France, the fathers at home wrote to their sons in the field and the sons in the field wrote home. Arrangements were made for the delivery of the letters without delay and, since the war had ended with the armistice celebrated thirteen days earlier, delivery was possible without risk.
President Calvin Coolidge also lent public support to the establishment of Father's Day as a national holiday, but the idea faced opposition as well. Some men viewed the holiday as contrary to notions of masculinity, while others saw it as pure commercialism. In the 1920s and 1930s there was a sustained campaign to combine Father's Day and its counterpart Mother's Day into one celebration known as Parents' Day, though this movement dwindled during the Great Depression and World War II. It was not until 1966 when the date of Father's Day was officially set as the third Sunday in June by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and in 1972 President Richard Nixon signed legislation permanently recognizing the holiday at the federal level.
By the twenty-first century, Father's Day was entrenched in American culture. It was considered in the top five holidays in terms of greeting card sales, with more than 72 million cards sold annually as of 2023. According to card company Hallmark, 50 percent of cards are bought by children for their father figure, while about 20 percent are purchased by spouses. Father's Day is also celebrated in many foreign countries, although not necessarily on the same day as in the United States. In some Christian traditions, secular observation of Father's Day is often paralleled by Saint Joseph's Day, honoring the biblical Joseph, mortal father figure to Jesus.
Bibliography
Daly, Hannah. "Father's Day 2022: Paganism, Roses and How the Campaign to Celebrate Dads Was Won." The Telegraph, 19 June 2022, www.telegraph.co.uk/men/fatherhood/fathers-day-what-is-it-and-why-we-celebrate-it/. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
"Father's Day." History, 31 Jan. 2024, www.history.com/topics/holidays/fathers-day. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
"Father's Day Fast Facts." CNN, 27 Dec. 2022, www.cnn.com/2013/06/11/us/fathers-day-fast-facts/index.html. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
Melina, Remy. "Father's Day Turns 100: How Did It Begin?" LiveScience, Purch, 17 June. 2010, www.livescience.com/10697-father-day-turns-100.html. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
Serafino, Jay. "12 Things You Probably Don't Know About Father's Day." MentalFloss, 14 June 2022, mentalfloss.com/article/501810/12-things-you-probably-dont-know-about-fathers-day. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.