by Scott Shaffer

Created on: June 12, 2008   Last Updated: March 28, 2011

Father's Day, that day we celebrate the man that stands as the figurehead, the leader, or the parent figure in our lives. For most it is a biological bond but recently, with divorce on the rise and the freedom of thought that covers this land, it has become the practice that any man that covers for a father may be celebrated.

A popular misconception is that father's day was created for companies that make cards and candy (or in most cases ties) so they could have just another excuse to sell items to the masses. However, the truth is more interesting.

While there are several ideas of where the origin lies, one of the stories of origin is that Mrs. John B. Dodd, in an effort to show her gratitude for the effort that her father made in raising her, proposed that a father's day be celebrated on the 5th of June, which was her father's birthday. It was his effort as a single parent that was the motivating factor in Mrs. Dodd's decision. It seems that when the sixth child of the Smart Family (William Smart was Mrs. Dodd's name) was born, the mother passed due to complications from the childbirth. This left Mr. Smart with the daunting task of raising six children on his own. It wasn't until Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized how truly amazing her father was, and the idea for father's day was born in her mind. Mrs. Dodd approached the mayor of the city who decided that in order for clergy to prepare for the holiday he would postpone the date to the third Sunday of June.

Another origin theory is that Mrs. Clayton, in West Virginia, wanted to commemorate the passing of the men killed in a local mining accident. She approached her pastor at her church and told him of her idea. Not long after, the sermon was preached to honor Father's across America as providers and as helpmates to the women and children in their lives.

At the time a movement was going on to celebrate just such a holiday across the United States but nothing had become final, nor was a day picked. This was credited as the first Father's Day. The movement caught on, and in 1924 President Calvin Coolidge recommended this date as the official day we celebrate the father's in our lives. It wasn't until 1966, under President Lyndon Johnson that the date of the third Sunday in June became the unofficial Father's Day and in 1972, President Nixon made it official. Father's Day was granted as a National Holiday, to everyone's delight.

While the origin may be in question, what is not is the fact that we are celebrating the fathers in our lives, whether they be uncles, grandparents, neighbors, or our fathers, it all remains the same. These men provide for us, they care for us, and they teach us the lessons we need to learn to survive, so this third Sunday of June, let a father figure in your life know that you feel that they are something special.

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