Father’s Day: Celebrating Fathers & ‘Three Mothers’

As we commemorate Father's Day, it's worthwhile to revisit the origins of this occasion. Sometimes, we celebrate certain days without fully understanding their backgrounds. Father's Day might fall into that category.

After reading the headline, I sense your curiosity, which I share equally. Why mothers? Why specifically three? I, too, have similar questions.

Are you familiar with the origins of Father's Day? If your response is 'no,' then this article will guide you through the events and experiences that shaped the establishment of this day.

Father’s Day is often viewed as a recently invented occasion to match Mother’s Day. But the truth is that the first Father’s Day celebration was organised in July 1908 in the United States of America, only two months after the first official Mother's Day.

Back to the question of three women celebrated alongside fathers. The organiser of the first Father’s Day was neither a father nor a man, but a West Virginia woman named Grace Golden Clayton.

In 1907, Clayton was deeply moved by reports about the Monongah mining disaster which killed 362 male miners, subsequently leaving 1000 children fatherless. This led her to organise a once-off event at her church to celebrate fatherhood.

In 1910, a young woman named Sonora Smart Dodd heard a sermon about the increasingly popular Mother’s Day. As a tribute to her father, who had raised his children alone after his wife's death, Dodd called for a similar day of gratitude for fathers.

Along with local ministers, she organised a Father's Day celebration in her hometown of Spokane, Washington, to be held every year on the third Sunday of June. At first, the event was relatively low-key, but in the 1930s Dodd and her supporters began pushing for national recognition.

However, unlike Mother’s Day, Father’s Day was not immediately accepted when it was proposed. It took 58 years after the creation of Mother’s Day for a similar proclamation to be signed to make Father’s Day official.

There were varied reasons behind the delay. Firstly, it is alleged the federal government feared that the creation of Father’s Day was nothing but a commercial gimmick to sell more products - often paid for by the father himself.

Some sources claim men were opposed to the idea as they considered it to be emasculating. They were basically against the idea of receiving flowers and gifts, regarding it as an abomination to manhood.

In 1957, US Senator Margaret Chase Smith took the fight a step further by introducing a bill to create a federally proclaimed day to celebrate fathers. Frustrated by the delay in officially declaring Father’s Day a holiday, Smith said:

“Either we honour both our parents, mother, and father, or let us desist from honouring either one. But to single out just one of our two parents and omit the other is the most grievous insult imaginable,”

Despite her efforts, it still took over a decade for her call to be considered. In 1972, President Richard Nixon finally signed a bill officially making Father's Day a nationally observed holiday.

The dedication shown by Clayton, Dodd, and Smith in advocating for the official recognition of Father's Day through a proclamation is what highlights their significance. Their efforts deserve acknowledgement on Father's Day, as they tirelessly fought for fathers to receive recognition.

While celebrating them, let's also honour fathers and their vital roles in our societies. Wishing them all a wonderful Father's Day!