Both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day honor parents, but the latter has a shorter history.
Celebrations honoring mothers trace back to ancient Greece, through Roman times, and continue today. The first official Mother’s Day in the United States was initiated by Anna Jarvis, who encouraged her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia, to hold an annual service for mothers, starting in 1908. By 1914, Mother’s Day was proclaimed a national holiday in the U.S.
The first Father’s Day in the U.S. also occurred in 1908, but its path to official recognition was longer than Mother’s Day’s. Like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day began as a church service in West Virginia. The inaugural Father’s Day was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont. It was likely inspired by a tragic mine explosion in nearby Monongah in December 1907, described as the worst disaster in American mining history. The explosion, caused by methane ignition, killed 362 men and boys, leaving over 1,000 children fatherless. Given its proximity to the first Mother’s Day service, the initial Father’s Day was probably influenced by the holiday for mothers, held less than two months earlier.
Sonora Smart Dodd and National Recognition
On the other side of the country, Sonora Smart Dodd, inspired by Anna Jarvis’s efforts to establish Mother’s Day, sought to create a similar day for fathers. Her father had raised six children alone, and to honor him and others, Dodd organized the first Father’s Day on the third Sunday in June 1910 in Spokane, Washington. She introduced a now-lost tradition of wearing flowers: a red flower for living fathers and a white flower to remember deceased ones. This celebration became the foundation for Father’s Day.
The honoring of fathers gained widespread support. By 1916, President Woodrow Wilson’s family celebrated Father’s Day. President Calvin Coolidge recommended it as a national holiday in 1924, but it wasn’t proclaimed until 1966. It became a permanent national holiday in 1972 under President Nixon.
Like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day is celebrated globally with gifts and cards. The tacky tie has become a traditional gag gift in many North American homes.
Internationally, Father’s Day is observed on various dates. Most countries follow the North American tradition of the third Sunday in June, but others celebrate in March, September, or November. In nations like South Korea and Vietnam, it’s known as Parents’ Day. In Russia, the holiday celebrates the “fatherland” and is widely recognized as a men’s holiday.
