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History Of Father's Day
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| 6-18-06
Posted on 06/18/2006 12:40:14 AM PDT by sully777
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special. .
The origin of Father's Day is not clear. Some say that it began with a church service in West Virginia in 1908. Others say the first Father's Day ceremony was held in Vancouver, Washington.
Regardless of when the first true Father's Day occurred, the strongest promoter of the holiday was Mrs. Bruce John Dodd of Spokane, Washington. 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. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.
After 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. In 1909, Mrs. Dodd approached her own minister and others in Spokane about having a church service dedicated to fathers on June 5, her father's birthday. That date was too soon for her minister to prepare the service, so he spoke a few weeks later on June 19th. From then on, the state of Washington celebrated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Children made special desserts, or visited their fathers if they lived apart.
In early times, wearing flowers was a traditional way of celebrating Father's Day. Mrs. Dodd favored the red rose to honor a father still living, while a white flower honored a deceased dad. 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.
States and organizations began lobbying Congress to declare an annual Father's Day. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved of this idea, but it was not until 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event to "establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations." Since then, fathers had been honored and recognized by their families throughout the country on the third Sunday in June.
In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day and put the official stamp on a celebration that was going on for almost half a century.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: bigguy; dad; dagwood; father; fathersday; hagar; papa; paw; pop; sockandties
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1
posted on
06/18/2006 12:40:16 AM PDT
by
sully777
To: sully777
I would like to wish all the fathers out there a Happy Fathers Day!!!
2
posted on
06/18/2006 12:42:22 AM PDT
by
garbageseeker
(Gentleman, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room - Dr. Strangelove)
To: sully777
3
posted on
06/18/2006 12:45:33 AM PDT
by
garbageseeker
(Gentleman, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room - Dr. Strangelove)
To: garbageseeker
Happy fathers day to all
4
posted on
06/18/2006 12:51:48 AM PDT
by
sully777
(wWBBD: What would Brian Boitano do?)
To: garbageseeker
Fathers day- A day in which fathers end up BBQing and dong everything except what THEY want to do, which is just to relax and take a day off, enjoy a few beers and do absolutely nothing.
I have some excellent 2" ribeye steaks marinating and ready to go. What father in his right mind would really trust anyone else but himself to cook them? :o)
Enjoy the day all you other dad's!
To: sully777
This is a very special Father's Day for me, as it is my first as a new father - on Wednesday, June 14, my wife and I were named by the Sverdlovskiy Oblast Family Court as the legal parents of a Russian orphan:
It took two years of paperwork, and over a year since we first met him as a 13-month old orphan having lived since birth in an institution here in Nizhniy Tagil, Russia. We get to take custody of him on June 26 or 27, and head back home to New Hampshire.
6
posted on
06/18/2006 12:57:45 AM PDT
by
mvpel
(Michael Pelletier)
To: Nathan Zachary; sully777
Fathers Day has been difficult for me because my father has been deceased for over three years.
7
posted on
06/18/2006 1:01:02 AM PDT
by
garbageseeker
(Gentleman, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room - Dr. Strangelove)
To: mvpel
To: mvpel
How wonderful. Is that a picture when you first met him? He looks like a healthy boy. Congratulations to you and your wife.
To: beaversmom
10
posted on
06/18/2006 1:05:18 AM PDT
by
garbageseeker
(Gentleman, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room - Dr. Strangelove)
To: garbageseeker
I'm sorry to hear about your loss. His lessons make you stronger.
11
posted on
06/18/2006 1:05:41 AM PDT
by
sully777
(wWBBD: What would Brian Boitano do?)
To: sully777
Thank you. I will always remember past Fathers Day with him with quite fondness.
12
posted on
06/18/2006 1:07:49 AM PDT
by
garbageseeker
(Gentleman, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room - Dr. Strangelove)
To: garbageseeker
Are you not a father? Hopefully some day that space can be filled. A day spent remembering isn't such a bad thing either.
To: garbageseeker
This is the second Father's Day without my dad. I am one of the lucky ones who had a great dad. In a million years - no one would have been able to explain the hole he'd leave when he died.
14
posted on
06/18/2006 1:10:19 AM PDT
by
justche
(Let me make something perfectly clear. I never explain myself - Mary Poppins)
To: mvpel
What a wonderful post and photo. Happy Father's Day!
15
posted on
06/18/2006 1:11:22 AM PDT
by
Thinkin' Gal
(As it was in the days of NO...)
To: Nathan Zachary
No, I am not a father. But I hope I will one day. I remember the get togethers at his home every Father's Day with fondness.
16
posted on
06/18/2006 1:12:05 AM PDT
by
garbageseeker
(Gentleman, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room - Dr. Strangelove)
To: garbageseeker
Be thankful you and I have dads worth remembering. Some people aren't as fortunate.
PS. My mom and dad have been married for 50 years. Dad taught me many things. He was the person that told me about the Free Republic.
17
posted on
06/18/2006 1:12:50 AM PDT
by
sully777
(wWBBD: What would Brian Boitano do?)
To: justche
I still have that hold in my life they day he passed away, too. But I still think about the good times. He was the greatest dad.
18
posted on
06/18/2006 1:14:18 AM PDT
by
garbageseeker
(Gentleman, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room - Dr. Strangelove)
To: sully777
When I think of great dads I always think of Andy and his relationship with Opie. I know it's a TV show but the opening scene to the show of father and son going fishing always brings a smile to my face:
Andy and Opie
Mt. Airy, NC
To: sully777
Thanks for this post about the history of Father's Day.
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