The origin of father's day

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. 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. Sonora's father was born in June,

so she chose to hold the first .Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of

June, 1910.  President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day.

Then 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 finally made it permanent in 1972.