The Mother of Father’s Day – The Epoch Times

SPOKANE, Wash. The city of Spokane in Washington is the birthplace of Fathers Day. It started in the craftsman-style home known as the Fathers Day House, or the Dodd House.

A Spokane resident named Sonora Louise Smart Dodd was inspired to dedicate a day to fathers while listening to a Mothers Day sermon at a church in 1909.

Her father, William Smart, was a Civil War veteran who raised Dodd and her five younger brothers after her mom died during childbirth.

The idea, I think, of having a single father in those years with six small children it was really important to her that he be recognized for all that he did, Kirstin Davis, communications manager for the City of Spokane, told NTD Television.

A plaque in front of the house honoring Dodd reads: He felt fatherhood was a lifelong task, Sonora Smart Dodd said, and he never relinquished its duties and responsibilities until his death in 1919. Even after my brothers and I were married, he was mindful of his obligations for he was a golden rule type of father.

Dodd started a petition to create a day honoring fathers. With the help of the Spokane Ministerial Alliance and the local YMCA, the Spokane mayor and the Washington governor signed proclamations to celebrate the first Fathers Day in June 1910.

After that, Dodd advocated for 60 years for Fathers Day to become a national holiday.

She decided to make it a very promotional effort and partnered with businesses that would benefit from selling mens items,Davis said. Whether those are ties, or greeting cards, whisky, things that dads might appreciate.

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the third Sunday in June to be Fathers Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon made the holiday permanent.

Dodd became known as the Mother of Fathers Day.

On the 100th anniversary of Fathers Day, the National Register of Historic Places added the Dodd House to its list.

Now Spokane celebrates Fathers Day just like everywhere else.

Daviss birthday also falls in the third week of June. Before her father passed away, she used to celebrate it together with Fathers Day.

[Fathers Day is] just honoring that relationship, Davis said. Usually theres some really good food involved, and hopefully we get a nice day and we can be outside and enjoy each others company.

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Ilene is a reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area covering Northern California news.

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The Mother of Father's Day - The Epoch Times