Did you know that Sunday marks the 51^st official anniversary of Father’s Day?

Yes, despite the perception of a long-held standard of celebrating the fathers – and those who serve as fathers – in our lives, it’s only been a national holiday since 1972. Although President Lyndon B Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day, it didn’t become a properly recognized United States holiday until Congress passed a joint resolution, followed by Richard Nixon’s official proclamation.

To have a father—to be a father—is to come very near the heart of life itself.

In fatherhood we know the elemental magic and joy of humanity. In fatherhood we even sense the divine, as the Scriptural writers did who told of all good gifts coming "down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning"—symbolism so challenging to each man who would give his own son or daughter a life of light without shadow.

Our identity in name and nature, our roots in home and family, our very standard of manhood—all this and more is the heritage our fathers share with us… it has long been our national custom to observe each year one special Sunday in honor of America's fathers; and from this year forward, by a joint resolution of the Congress approved April 24, 1972, that custom carries the weight of law.

This is fitting and good. Let each American make this Father's Day an occasion for renewal of the love and gratitude we bear to our fathers, increasing and enduring through all the years.

Back to the Beginning

As President Nixon noted, Father’s Day started much farther back. The original day for recognizing fathers happened over 110 years ago.

Depending on who you ask, there are two stories about the origins of the holiday.

The first starts in December 1907. A deadly mine explosion in Monongah, WV killed 361 men, many of them fathers and recent immigrants to the United States from Italy. Grace Golden Clayton, daughter of the pastor of Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South suggested they have a day honoring all fathers and so they did – once – on July 5, 1908.

Likely unaware of this special church service, as there were no Internet or 24-hour news channels, in 1909 a woman in Spokane, WA was listening to a sermon on Mother’s Day and became inspired. Sonora Smart Dodd was one of six children that her father, a Civil War veteran, raised as a single parent after his wife died in childbirth. Her initial proposal was June 5, the anniversary of his death. Unfortunately, she didn’t give the Spokane Ministerial Association and the YMCA enough time, and the first celebration took place in 1910 on the third Sunday in June instead.

Involving the Nation

Slowly, Father’s Day spread across the United States. In 1916, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryant urged President Woodrow Wilson to create a national holiday. Wilson did not agree, but staffers did arrange for him to celebrate by pressing a button in DC and for telegraph signals to sweep across the country to almost instantly unfurl an American flag 2500 miles away in Washington State.

Years later in 1924, President Coolidge urged the 48 states to enact their own Father’s Day celebrations: “to establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations.”

And for years, men themselves resisted the notion of Father’s Day. In light of the floral and feminine gifts associated with Mother’s Day, many husbands and fathers saw the proposed holiday as a sentimental attempt to domesticate manliness.

Interest in Father’s Day was stoked during the Great Depression. Struggling stores grasped at the idea of selling some of their lingering stock to families for their fathers – likely launching the tradition of getting Dad ties and socks that he may hardly ever wear (even though he probably paid for them).

Advertisers also saw the grueling years of World War II as inspiration, arguing that celebrating Father’s Day was a way to honor American troops and support the war effort. By the end of the war, Father’s Day had become an institution.

LBJ made the date official in 1966, and, as we already mentioned, in 1972 it was finally official – and Sonora Smart Dodd lived to see it. She would pass away in 1978 at age 96.

Alternative Approach

In the 1920s and 30s, a movement arose to combine Mother’s and Father’s Days into a single Parent’s Day, proposing that both parents should be loved and respected together. The great Depression derailed the efforts, but it is a sentiment that is popular today.

Some believe that traditional gender roles, as effective as they may have once been, also contribute to added stress, depression and even suicide among men who cannot separate their identity from their career or familial responsibilities. They say it’s best to find ways to support both parents in their roles so they both feel appreciated and honored.

At least one member of nature agrees. Among Seahorses, females inject their eggs into the male’s tail to be fertilized and it is the male that carries the fertilized eggs until they need to be birthed.

When it comes to King Penguins, the females hunt while the male penguins use their bodies to keep the eggs warm. In fact, dad bods are the preferred shape – because they can sit on the eggs longer without eating.

Back in the United States, economists estimate that Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on gifts for Father’s Day. Many other countries across the globe now celebrate Father’s Day, although many of the traditionally Catholic countries honor dads on March 19, coinciding with the Feast of St. Joseph, and some celebrate father’s later in the year, even in August and September.

When and however you choose to celebrate, we hope you honor the men in your lives – your parents or those who have served as parents for you this Father’s Day.