MONONGAH, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Father’s Day was founded in the early 20th century in the United States. The credit for initiating the holiday goes to Sonora Smart Dodd, a woman from Spokane, Washington.
Although Dodd is credited with being the first to push for the holiday, a church in West Virginia had the first recorded event honoring fathers following a mine explosion. That event was held on July 5, 1908, less than a year before Dodd’s idea.
The church service was held to honor the fathers that lost their lives in the Fairmont Coal Company Mine Explosion in Monongah in the previous December. Nearly 400 men lost their lives in the explosion.
But the idea for Father’s Day came to Dodd in 1909 when she attended a Mother’s Day sermon. Reflecting on her own father’s role in raising her and her five siblings, Sonora felt that fathers deserved recognition as well.
Sonora’s father, William Jackson Smart, was a Civil War veteran and a single parent who raised his children after his wife’s death during childbirth. Sonora wanted to honor her father’s love, sacrifice, and devotion to his children.
She believed that fathers, like mothers, should have a special day dedicated to celebrating their influence in the lives of their children.
Sonora campaigned tirelessly to establish Father’s Day as an official holiday. She chose June 19, her father’s birthday, as the date for the first Father’s Day celebration in Spokane in 1910. The event gained popularity and eventually spread to other cities and states.
Sonora’s efforts gained further recognition and support over the years, leading to President Calvin Coolidge endorsing the idea of a national Father’s Day in 1924.
However, it was not until 1972 that Father’s Day became an official federal holiday in the United States when President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.
Sonora Smart Dodd’s founding of Father’s Day was driven by her desire to honor her father’s role as a single parent and to acknowledge the importance of fathers in raising children. Her initiative has since grown into a global celebration, allowing people to express their appreciation and love for fathers and father figures worldwide.
Happy Father’s Day!