The first Father’s Day was held on July 5, 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia. This endeavor was spearheaded by Grace Golden Clayton, upon witnessing the success Anna Jarvis had with Mother’s Day earlier that year.
Clayton was mourning for her own father when the Monongah Mining Disaster in Monongah, West Virginia occurred in December 1907 killing 361 men, and leaving around a thousand fatherless children. Clayton suggested a way to honor the father’s to her pastor for this first Father’s Day.
The first Father’s Day “sermons honoring fathers” were held in 1910.
Although a movement began in 1916 to make Father’s Day a national holiday, it was not until 1966 that President Johnson issued the first Presidential proclamation honoring fathers. In 1972, President Nixon signed the bill marking the third Sunday in June, officially Father’s Day.
How do you honor or remember your father?