In the United States, there are two claims to the first Father's
Day celebration. The first claim to Father's Day was in the State of
Washington on June 19, 1908. A few weeks later, an independent
celebration of Father's Day was held in Fairmont, West Virginia on July
5, 1908. In West Virginia, Father's Day was first recognized during a church
service at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South. Grace
Golden Clayton, who is reported to have suggested the service to the
pastor at Williams Memorial, is believed to have been inspired to
celebrate fathers after a mine explosion in the nearby community of
Monongah a few months before. This explosion killed 361 men, many of
them fathers and recent immigrants to the United States from Italy. Another driving force behind the establishment of Father's Day was Mrs.
Sonora Smart Dodd. Her father was William Jackson Smart, who reared his
six children in Spokane, Washington as a single father. Although she
initially suggested setting Father's Day on June 5 in Spokane (which was
her father's birthday), the other people involved did not think they
would have time enough for a fitting celebration. So the first Father's
Day was held instead on the third Sunday of June. The first June
Father's Day was celebrated on June 19, 1908, in Spokane, WA, at the
Spokane YMCA. Orator and politician William Jennings Bryan embraced the concept
immediately and began sharing his support broadly. President Woodrow
Wilson was the first U.S. President to celebrate Father's Day in June of
1916, a party hosted by his family. President Calvin Coolidge
recommended it as a national holiday in 1924. In 1966, President Lyndon
Johnson by executive order made Father's Day a holiday to be celebrated
on the third Sunday of June. The holiday was not officially recognized
until 1972, when it was formally acknowledged by a Congressional Act
setting it permanently on the third Sunday in June nationwide.
The eagles are so big! One of them just flew into the nest. It looks like they need a tiny bit more room in their nest for all three of them there are only two eagles in the nest so far. They are laying down enjoying the breeze. Im really gonna miss watching them grow up when they leave their nest and start a family of their own. Yesterday i saw their mother just watching them sore through the sky. To see them go to http://www.alcoa.com/locations/usa_davenport/en/info_page/eaglecam.asp
Andrea,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on posting the events of how Father's Day came to be celebrated.
I did not find any major problems with this post.
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love mommy