History of Father’s Day
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Father’s Day is celebrated every third Sunday in June, but how did the observance originally begin? Like many other holidays, the origins of Father’s Day are somewhat uncertain. The first celebration is said to have occurred in a West Virginia church in 1908. Grace Golden Clayton suggested the observance after an explosion in a nearby town killed 361 men. That first Father’s Day, however, was not widely publicized and credit for founding the holiday is rarely given to Clayton.
Instead, a more popular story involves Sonora Smart Dodd’s decision to honor fathers. Dodd and her siblings were raised solely by their father after their mother’s death. In 1909, she asked her pastor to help organize a celebration that would occur in June, her father’s birth month.
Dodd’s request was granted and her first Father’s Day was celebrated June 19, 1910. The event occurred in Dodd’s hometown of Spokane, Wash. It featured the presentation of a flag by President Woodrow Wilson and people wore roses to honor their fathers—red for the living and white for those who had died.
In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father’s Day, but failed to make it a holiday. A national Father’s Day committee was later formed in 1936. It was not until 1966, however, that more efforts were made to make it a holiday. President Lyndon B. Johnson made a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day, which President Richard Nixon signed into law in 1972. It has been nationally observed ever since.
Father’s Day is a time to celebrate all of the fatherly figures in your life. Ninety-nine years after Dodd’s first celebration, Father’s Day is now widely observed. Don’t forget your dad, Father’s Day is Sunday, June 21, this year.
By Kirsten Romaguera
A native of Cavinti, Lucila C. Oblena spent all her working years as an educator, beginning as a classroom teacher in 1944, then a Guidance Counselor and retired as a school Principal. She is also the founder of CLOTA (Cavinti Laguna Overseas Teachers Association). She is the Editor of Tipakan.com (Cavinti Diaspora).
