by Teresa McEachern

Father’s Day was ‘invented’ by Sonora Dodd in 1909 while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon of all things. You see, her mother died while giving birth to the 6th child, and Dodd’s father, William Smart, was left to raise this large family. He must have done an amazing job because Dodd wanted to honour him by creating Father’s Day in his birth, June. She began an aggressive letter writing campaign, and the first Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane, Washington, her hometown, on June 19th, 1910.

Harry C. Meek has also been attributed as a creator of Father’s Day. As president of the Lions Club in Chicago, he gave speeches across the US encouraging people to set a day apart to thank their fathers. In 1920 he received a gold watch from the Lions Club enscribed “Originator of Fathers Day”. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson declared his support of Father’s Day as a national observance and President Calvin Coolidge was verbal about his support of Father’s Day in 1924 “to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations”, but the all male Congress saw it as a conflict of interest. In 1926 a National Father’s Day Committee was formed in New York City, but it wasn’t until 1956 that the Joint Resolution of Congress acknowledged Father’s Day. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June to be considered Father’s Day. Then, in 1972 President Richard Nixon signed the law. In the early years of its observance, people wore a rose to honor their fathers, red if their father was living, white if their father had passed away. Today, we honour not only our biological fathers, but also those who act as a father figure in our lives: step fathers, adoptive fathers, grandfathers, uncles & mentors. Did you know: Father’s Day has had a history of being the day in the year with the most collect phone calls!
About the Author

Teresa McEachern has founded two e-commerce sites: Photography Gift Shop with professional photos of travel sights & wildlife on t-shirts & gifts, as well as Lingo T-shirts which features t-shirts that talk for you about your passion for sports, hobbies, babies & family, holidays or wildlife.