The History of Father's Day

It was thanks to the inspiration of two women that we have the tradition of celebrating good ole Dad.

On July 5, 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia, the very first Father's Day was celebrated at William Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church. Grace Golden Clayton had suggested a celebration of fathers after a deadly explosion killed over 300 men that past December.

Then, in 1910, Sonora Smart Dodd was inspired by Mother's Day and coordinated a Father's Day celebration in memory of her father, a Civil War veteran, who raised her and her siblings after her mother passed away.

Soon after, in 1924, President Coolidge suggested that Father's Day become a national holiday.

Nearly 60 years later in 1966, President Johnson designated the third Sunday of June to be Father's Day. Finally in 1972 President Nixon instituted Father's Day as a national observance.