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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Enjoy Father’s Day? A woman spent 62 years in campaigning for the day

Let us come together and celebrate the father’s day in full enthusiasm. Make the man feel loved. 

Every year on the third Sunday in June, Americans recognise their dads and the role they play in their families and communities. While many Americans may be intending to honour their dad on Father’s Day, few are aware of the lady who led a 62-year fight to make the day a federal holiday.

Sonora Louise Smart Dodd’s father died when she was 16 years old, leaving her mother to raise Dodd and her five younger brothers alone. Dodd noticed the need for a day to honour dads, especially her own, while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. 

A new revolution and a new change

Dodd was so moved that she created a petition for the first Father’s Day, arguing that it should be held on her father’s birthday in early June. Despite just receiving two signatures on the petition, Dodd persuaded many local church groups to participate on the condition that the date be pushed back to late June to provide them more time to prepare.

While the Day of the Mother was declared a national holiday in 1914, Day of the Father was not recognised until 1972. Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge and Lyndon B. Johnson have all been writing holiday support throughout the years but none could pass legislation that ratifies it during their terms and conditions. In 1970, the US Congress adopted the Joint Resolution 187 that urged people to demonstrate their endless love and appreciation for their parents in public and private on that day. The resolution was enacted into law two years later by President Richard Nixon.

A day for the father

Families in Spokane celebrated their dad by wearing red roses for those who were still living and white flowers for those who had passed away on the inaugural Father’s Day. Father’s Day sermons were delivered by Presbyterian and Methodist pastors. Father’s Day proclamations were made by the mayor of the city and even the governor of the state.

Father’s Day is now often commemorated with food, parties, and presents. According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expecting to spend $17 billion on Father’s Day this year, with greeting cards, apparel, and gift cards being the most popular presents.

The nature of parenting has changed since Father’s Day was originally founded. 

Most males are no longer alone and are more engaged in the lives of their children. Today, American males spend an average of eight hours per week in childcare three times as much as they did 1965. However, less than half of Americans think that they very well raise their kids.

Fatherhood has been and continues to be a challenging and rewarding experience. Father’s Day is an opportunity to recognise everyone who has taken on this difficult task. 

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