June 6, 1910

Jenny Lind (Sebastian County) native Sonora Dodd suggested the establishment of a Father’s Day holiday to the Spokane Ministerial Association and the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Spokane, Washington. The first Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane on June 19, 1910, fourteen days after Dodd’s father’s birthday. Although the proposed holiday gained many supporters over the years, including Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge, it took several decades to be nationally recognized. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared June 19 of that year to be Father’s Day. Finally, in 1972, President Richard M. Nixon made Father’s Day a permanent national holiday to be observed annually the third Sunday of June.

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