reblogged from Reclaim Our Republic
History
Father’s Day, contrary to popular misconception, was not established as a holiday in order to help greeting card manufacturers sell more cards. In fact when a “father’s day” was first proposed there were no Father’s Day cards!
Mrs. John B. Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of a “father’s day” in 1909. Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. William Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife (Mrs. Dodd’s mother) died in childbirth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.
Mrs. John B. Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of a “father’s day” in 1909. Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. William Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife (Mrs. Dodd’s mother) died in childbirth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.
The first Father’s Day was observed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane Washington. At about the same time in various towns and cities across American other people were beginning to celebrate a “father’s day.” In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father’s Day. Finally in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day.Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972.
Father’s Day has become a day to not only honor your father, but all men who act as a father figure. Stepfathers, uncles, grandfathers, and adult male friends are all be honored on Father’s Day.
The Effective Father
Sometimes there are effects of our influence that we may never know.
G. Brook Adams kept a diary from his boyhood. One special day when he was eight years old, he wrote in his diary, “Went fishing with my father; the most glorious day of my life.” Throughout the next 40 years of his life he never forgot that day he went fishing with his father, he made repeated references to it in his diary, commenting on the influence of that day on his life.
Brook’s father was an important man; he was Charles Francis Adams, the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain under the Lincoln administration. (Brook was also the grandson of 19th century president John Quincy Adams) Interestingly, the father too made a note in his diary about the fishing trip. He wrote simply, “Went fishing with my son; a day wasted.”
Of course the day was not wasted; its value may well have proved to make it one of the most well-spent days in his life. No one can measure the influence of a man on his children, and that is all the more reason to take the job and its responsibilities seriously.
Someone has written,
“Last night my little boy confessed to me some childish wrong;
and kneeling at my knee, he prayed with tears,
‘O Lord, make me a man like Daddy-wise and strong.
I know you can.’
“Last night my little boy confessed to me some childish wrong;
and kneeling at my knee, he prayed with tears,
‘O Lord, make me a man like Daddy-wise and strong.
I know you can.’
Then while he slept, I knelt beside his bed,
confessed my sins and prayed with low-bowed head,
‘O God, make me a child like my child here;
pure, guileless, trusting thee with faith sincere.’”
What kind of a father are you?
confessed my sins and prayed with low-bowed head,
‘O God, make me a child like my child here;
pure, guileless, trusting thee with faith sincere.’”
What kind of a father are you?
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