Looking back: A commemoration for Father’s Day

JUNE 16th marks as a day for Fathers in the Philippines – where we honor fatherhood and its influence within the society.  

While most us are familiar with, how, and why we commemorate father’s day–has it ever fascinated you to think of how this event started in the first place? 

Father’s day is the day where we honor tand appreciate the sacrifices and contributions of all fathers and father figures. 

This is the time on where we show appreciation for the their love, guidance, and support. 

History of Father’s Day

Father’s day was first made with an inspiration coming from Ann Jarvis’ Mother’s Day.  

To Ann Jarvis, Mother’s Day is her way of wanting to honor her mother–thus, she made it possible by turning it into a national holiday with the John Wanamaker department store in Philadelphia sponsoring a service dedicated to mother in its auditorium. 

The first event to explicitly honor the fathers first happened in July 5, 1908 on where it was sponsored by a West Virginia church. 

From there, a Sunday sermon  was held in memory of the 362 men who died from the December’s explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah. During that time, it wasn’t considered as an annual holiday but rather a one-time commemoration. 

A year later after that, a woman from Spokane, Washington named Sonora Smart Dodd came forward and tried to establish an official equivalent for mother’s day that is dedicated to fathers. 

Dodd went to local churches, the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association), shopkeepers, and government officials to have them support her idea. With her idea being successful, the state of Washington celebrated the nation’s first official Father’s Day on June 19, 1910.

As the holiday spread, in 1916 United States of America President Wilson commemorated the day by using telegraph signals to unfurl a flag in Spokane when he pressed a button in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile in 1924,  President Coolidge made the state government to celebrate the said event. 

Until this day, the event that was inspired by Mother’s day is still being celebrated and will continue to be celebrated in the future.

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