History of Father's Day

[Luba]

from wilstar.com:

Sonora Dodd, of Washington, first had the idea of a "father's day". She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909. Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, who was a Civil war veteran, widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. He was left to raise the newborn and his other children on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

When Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. He was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on June 19th, 1910.

President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day. President Richard Nixon signed the law which made it permanent in 1972.