ObservanceSunday, June 20, 2027
Father's Day
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Father's Day falls on the third Sunday in June, and it took more than sixty years to get there. Sonora Smart Dodd proposed it in Spokane in 1909, after sitting through a Mother's Day sermon and thinking of her own father, a Civil War veteran who had raised his children alone; the first service was held the following June. Congress did not give the day a standing annual designation until 1972, which makes it one of the slowest-moving holidays on the American calendar.
History
There are two origin claims, and only one of them is firmly dated. The Library of Congress names Grace Golden Clayton, who wanted a day honoring the fathers killed in the Monongah mine disaster — an explosion in Marion County, West Virginia, on December 6, 1907, which the official list of mine disasters puts at 357 dead, and contemporary accounts at close to four hundred. The sources used for this page do not give a year for Clayton's service, so no year is assigned to it here.
The dated claim belongs to Sonora Smart Dodd. In 1909, at a Mother's Day church service in Spokane, Washington, she thought of a counterpart for fathers. Her own mother had died in childbirth when Dodd was sixteen, and her father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran, had raised the children himself. Dodd persuaded the Spokane Ministerial Alliance and the YMCA to sign a petition, and the first Father's Day was observed in Spokane on June 19, 1910, with proclamations from the city's mayor and the governor of Washington. She then spent roughly six decades pressing for national recognition.
Federal recognition came in pieces, and most of the pieces expired. Presidents Wilson and Coolidge both worked toward making the day national. In 1966 Congress enacted Public Law 89-450, which covered that year alone. Only on April 24, 1972, with Public Law 92-278, did Congress authorize the President to designate the third Sunday in June as Father's Day each year, direct that the flag be flown on federal buildings, and invite states, localities and the public to observe it with ceremonies expressing gratitude to their fathers. That is the law the holiday still runs on.
Timeline
- December 6, 1907 — An explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, kills 357 miners by the official count; Grace Golden Clayton sought a day honoring the fathers lost there.
- 1909 — At a Mother's Day service in Spokane, Washington, Sonora Smart Dodd conceives a holiday honoring fathers.
- June 19, 1910 — The first Father's Day is observed in Spokane, with proclamations from the mayor and the governor of Washington.
- 1966 — Congress enacts Public Law 89-450, recognizing Father's Day for that year only.
- April 24, 1972 — Public Law 92-278 authorizes the President to designate the third Sunday in June as Father's Day each year.
- 2010 — The Dodd House in Spokane is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, on the holiday's centennial.
How to observe
Be specific rather than general. The holiday was invented by a woman thinking about one man who had done something hard and unglamorous for years without being thanked for it, and a general tribute to fatherhood was not what she had in mind.
Read the law. Public Law 92-278 is about a page long and, unlike most holiday legislation, says plainly what the day is for. The 1966 version, Public Law 89-450, is worth seeing next to it: a holiday granted one year at a time.
If you are in Spokane, the Dodd House, where Sonora Smart Dodd lived, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 — the holiday's centennial — under reference number 10000417. It is privately managed and not open to the public, so admire it from the sidewalk.
And if the day is a complicated one for you, the holiday's own history is not unsympathetic. On the West Virginia account, it began as a memorial for fathers who were not coming home.
Frequently asked questions
When is Father's Day?
The third Sunday in June, under Public Law 92-278, approved April 24, 1972.
Is Father's Day a federal holiday?
No. The 1972 law designates the day and calls for the flag to be flown on federal buildings, but the federal holidays that come with a day off are set separately, under 5 U.S.C. 6103, and Father's Day is not one of them.
Who started Father's Day?
Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, in most accounts: she proposed it in 1909 and held the first observance on June 19, 1910. The Library of Congress also credits Grace Golden Clayton of West Virginia, who wanted a day for the fathers killed at Monongah. Because the sources here do not date Clayton's service, the two claims cannot be cleanly ordered.
Why did it take until 1972?
Congress kept acting on the day without making it permanent. The 1966 law, Public Law 89-450, applied to 1966 only, and it was Public Law 92-278 six years later that created a standing annual designation.
Why the third Sunday in June?
The 1972 law fixed it, and the June timing traces back to the first observance in Spokane on June 19, 1910. Why that particular date was chosen is not documented in the sources used here.
When is Father's Day?
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | June 20 | Sunday |
| 2028 | June 18 | Sunday |
| 2029 | June 17 | Sunday |
| 2030 | June 16 | Sunday |
| 2031 | June 15 | Sunday |
Sources
- National Park Service, Dodd House — https://www.nps.gov/places/dodd-house.htm → Sonora Smart Dodd conceiving the holiday in 1909 at a Mother's Day service; her father William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran, and her mother's death in childbirth when Dodd was sixteen; the first Father's Day service in Spokane in June 1910; her decades-long campaign; Nixon signing the congressional resolution in 1972; the house's 2010 National Register listing, reference number 10000417, and that it is privately managed and not open to the public.
- City of Spokane, Spokane Is the Birthplace of Father's Day — https://my.spokanecity.org/news/stories/2020/06/18/spokane-is-the-birthplace-of-fathers-day/ → the Spokane Ministerial Alliance and the YMCA signing Dodd's petition; the first observance on June 19, 1910 with proclamations by Spokane's mayor and Washington's governor; the National Register listing on the holiday's centennial; that the source does not say why June 19 was chosen.
- Library of Congress, Celebrating Father's Day with Primary Sources from the Library of Congress, Teaching with the Library — https://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2017/06/celebrating-fathers-day-with-primary-sources-from-the-library-of-congress/ → Grace Golden Clayton wanting a day to honor the fathers lost in the Monongah mine disaster (no year given for her service); Public Law 89-450 covering 1966 only; Public Law 92-278 in 1972 as the permanent designation; Wilson and Coolidge working toward national recognition.
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, Statutes at Large, volume 86, page 124 — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-86/pdf/STATUTE-86-Pg124.pdf → the primary text of Public Law 92-278, approved April 24, 1972, "To authorize the President to designate the third Sunday in June of each year as Father's Day," including the flag direction and the invitation to states, localities and the public.
- West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Monongah Mine Disaster — https://archive.wvculture.org/history/disasters/monongah03.html → the explosion on December 6, 1907 at Monongah Nos. 6 and 8; the official disaster list figure of 357 killed and the contemporary estimate of almost four hundred.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Federal Holidays — https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/ → the federal holidays established by 5 U.S.C. 6103, a list that does not include Father's Day.
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