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You Ask... Patch Answers: Where Did Father's Day Come From?

Where did this holiday originate?

One Patch reader wants to know: Where did Father's Day come from? Well, that's actually up for debate.

West Virginia

In December 1907, disaster struck the small town of Monongah, West Virginia, which killed hundreds of people including 210 fathers. That incident -- an explosion believed to have been caused by a methane ignition that ignited the coal dust in two mines -- was deemed the worst mining catastrophe in our nation's history. Many people, including rescue crew members, died after the explosion from methane-induced suffocation.

The actual death toll remains a mystery, but later research by the federal government estimated about 500 people killed. The disaster left more than 1,000 children without fathers.

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This devastation emotionally impacted a woman named Grace Golden Clayton of nearby Fairmont. Clayton was the daughter of the deceased Rev.

“It was partly the explosion that got me to thinking how important and loved most fathers are," Clayton is quoted as saying to the county's historian. "All those lonely children and those heart-broken wives and mothers, made orphans and widows in a matter of a few minutes. Oh, how sad and frightening to have no father, no husband, to turn to at such an awful time.”

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Clayton decided that, in addition to Mother's Day, there should be a Father's Day. She wanted the holiday to be on a Sunday close to the birthday of her own father, the late Rev. Fletcher Golden, which was in July. So in 1908, Fairmont celebrated Father's Day on July 5. The day did not catch on, however -- it was overshadowed by a massive July 4 parade and the first appearance of a hot air balloon the day before -- and was only celebrated that one time in Fairmont.

Washington State

A couple years later, a woman in Spokane, Wash., named Sonora Smart Dodd, started an effort for an annual celebration of fathers. Dodd's mother died when she was young, and her father William Jackson Smart raised her and her five brothers on a farm.

In 1909, Dodd was inspired by a Mother's Day sermon at her church and decided father's should be honored too, since her father had raised her and her brothers alone. She spoke with her reverend and they brought the idea to the YMCA. She, like Clayton, wanted the day to be near her own father's birthday, June 5. The Spokane YMCA then helped her arrange a Father's Day celebration in 1910, but due to time restrictions they set it for June 19.

The Nation

A few years later, President Woodrow Wilson advocated for a bill to establish Father's Day, but Congress declined to do so -- they thought declaring a holiday would make the celebration too commercial. A few years after that, President Calvin Coolidge promoted the idea of Father's Day and asked the states to recognize it.

The observance gained popularity nationwide and in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed a proclamation calling for the third Sunday in June to be recognized as Father's Day. The day was solidified a few years later in 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making the holiday national and permanent.

So today, we honor dads everywhere with cookouts and gifts. Whether you recognize West Virginia or Spokane, Wash., for this holiday, have a great one.


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