Celebrated the 3rd Sunday in June, Father's Day, contrary to popular misconception, was not
established as a holiday in order to help greeting card manufacturers sell more cards. In fact when a
"father's day" was first proposed there were no Father's Day cards!

Sonora Dodd, of Washington, first had the idea of a "father's day." She thought of the idea for
Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.

Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran,
was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise
the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his
children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the
eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she
chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Then in 1966
President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as
Father's Day.

Father's Day has become a day to not only honor your father, but all men who act as a father figure.
Stepfathers, uncles, grandfathers, and adult male friends are all be honored on Father's Day.