Did you know Father’s Day didn’t become a national Holiday until 1972? That was 58 years since Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. Ann Reeves Jarvis and fellow peace activist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe had been advocating for a national Mother’s Day devoted to peace since 1870. It was then that Ward Howe had made her Mother’s Day Proclamation, which called upon mothers to promote the “amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.” In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution declaring Mother’s Day to be held on the 2nd Sunday in May in order to celebrate and honor mothers. The holiday quickly caught on and also became a commercial success. In the early 1920’s Hallmark began publishing Mother’s Day cards and it became customary to present mothers with carnations.
There were similar attempts to establish a Father’s Day dating to the same time period which all failed to catch on nationally. In 1908 a a West Virginia church sponsored what is thought to be the first explicitly in honor of fathers: a sermon in honor of the 362 men who had died at the Fairmont Company Coal mine nearby. The next year in Spokane, WA Sonora Smart Dodd tried to establish Father’s Day by going to local churches, government, and other institutions to get support for her idea. The state of Washington celebrated Father’s Day in 1910. The holiday spread slowly and was honored by President Wilson and in 1924 President Coolidge urged all states to observe Father’s Day. In the 1920’s and early 1930’s there was actually a movement to consolidate the two celebrations into one Parent’s Day and to de-commercialize the day. The Great Depression derailed this movement as struggling retailers and advertisers tried to make Father’s Day into a “second Christmas” for men. When World War II began the same commercial interests argued that Father’s Day was a way to honor American troops and support the war effort. Though Father’s Day was still not an official U.S. holiday, by the end of the War it was recognized across the country. Finally in 1966 Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation designating the 3rd Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Nixon made the holiday permanent by signing it into law in 1972.
If you’re looking for a good book for dad to relax with this Father’s Day, check out these recommendations below. All are available as eBooks from OverDrive. Download PDF here. Click on a title to be taken to the OverDrive copy.
