Stories Outlining The History Of Fathers Day

Because of the rigorous commercialization of Fathers Day cards and gifts, the third Sunday in June is often referred to as a "Hallmark Holiday." In fact, some of the most passionate supporters for creating an official Father's Day campaigned against the emphasis on gift-giving and purchasing consumer goods, rather than attending special commemoration masses.

There are many stories about the history of Fathers Day, but the official celebration is most likely a culmination of work undertaken by several different people over the years. Here are some of their stories.

Some say the history of Fathers Day begins in Fairmont, West Virginia back in the summer of 1908. As her deceased father's birthday neared, 41-year-old Grace Golden Clayton was feeling the pain of her loss.

In 1907, 250 fathers were killed in the tragic Monongah coal mining accident. She urged her pastor to hold a special commemoration service for fathers, which was held on July 5, 1908 -- the Sunday nearest the birthday of Clayton's father.

Soon thereafter, the Father's Day date became overshadowed by Independence Day festivities, the death of a teenage girl from typhoid fever and financial difficulties. "They had other things on their mind," explains Thomas Koon, president of the Marion County Historical Society.

"The original sermon was lost... It just seems as though no one thought it was a great deal at the time. No one jumped on the bandwagon and went to the City Council for a proclamation. No one got on the governor. No one went to Congress," he says. "Mrs. Clayton apparently thought it was not lady-like for someone to go out and toot their own horn."

It finally became a national holiday years later after "a number of other people chewed on it like a pit bull," he adds, but that still does not mean we should forget some of the earliest campaigners.

Woodrow Wilson and his family had their own personal Fathers Day activities as early as 1916, in response to some of the inspiring celebrations he witnessed across the country.

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge decided to make his own mark on the history of Father's Day by creating a National Father's Day Committee to explore ways to "establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children, and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations."

However, the official Father's Day date was signed into law in 1972 by President Richard Nixon. In 1974, Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd was honored for her contribution at the World's Fair in Spokane, just four years before she died at age 96.

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