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# Father's Day: How did it begin?
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/father_s_day_how_did_it_begin_0616110842/
- Published: 2011-06-16T21:41:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:14:49.000Z
- Description: Sonora Dodd of Spokane proposed Father's Day in 1909 to honor her father, a widowed Civil War veteran raising six children alone. The first celebration came June 19, 1910; Lyndon Johnson proclaimed the third Sunday in June in 1966 and Nixon made it permanent in 1972.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Miscellaneous, Health News, #vivvo-import

# Father's Day

Father's Day, which is Sunday, June 19, began in honor of a widowed Civil War veteran who raised six children by himself.

According to the [U.S. Census Bureau](http://answers.usa.gov/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1000&PARTITION%5FID=1&CMD=VIEW%5FARTICLE&USERTYPE=1&LANGUAGE=en&COUNTRY=US&ARTICLE%5FID=12202&ref=foodconsumer.org), Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington, first proposed the idea of a father's day in 1909\. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who was raising six children on a farm by himself. The first [Father's Day](http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Fathers%5FDay.shtml?ref=foodconsumer.org) celebration occurred on June 19, 1910, because it was the month of Smart's birth.

In 1966, [President Lyndon B. Johnson](http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/lyndonbjohnson?ref=foodconsumer.org) issued the first presidential proclamation designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. [President Richard M. Nixon](http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/richardnixon?ref=foodconsumer.org) signed the public law that made Father's Day permanent in 1972.

Father's Day has become a day to honor your father, but also a day to honor all men who act as father figures, including uncles, stepfathers, brothers, and grandfathers.

**Additional Resources:**

- [Presidential Proclamation - Father's Day 2010](http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-fathers-day?ref=foodconsumer.org)
- [Census Bureau: Father's Day 2011](http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts%5Ffor%5Ffeatures%5Fspecial%5Feditions/cb11-ff11.html?ref=foodconsumer.org)