Many people think that Father's Day, like many holidays, was created by a greeting card company, but that's not true. Mrs. John B. Dodd (Sonora was her first name), of Washington State, was the first person who suggested the idea of the holiday in 1909. Mrs. Dodd's wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a civil war veteran who was widowed when his wife died in childbirth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart raised the newborn along with his five other children, by himself, on a rural farm in Eastern Washington State, despite the obvious hardships. It wasn't until Sonora Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. The original date Mrs. Dodd had chosen for the holiday was June 5, Mr. Smart's birthday, but there wasn't enough time to prepare. The celebration was postponed until June 19, the third Sunday in June. and celebrated for the first time in Spokane, Washington. Around the same time in various towns and cities across America other people were beginning to celebrate a Father's Day. Some give credit to Mrs. Charles Clayton of West Virginia, as the founder of Father's Day, although most histories give credit to Mrs. Dodd. Wearing flowers was a traditional way of celebrating Father's Day in early times. Mrs. Dodd favored the red rose to honor a father still living, while a white flower honored a father who was deceased. J.H. Berringer, who also held Father's Day celebrations in Washington State as early as 1912, chose a white lilac as the Father's Day Flower. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day, but it never became official until 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson signed the presidential proclamation that set aside the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day. |
