Father's Day hits the century mark

June 21, 10:07 AMDomestic Violence ExaminerTrudy Schuett

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USMC photo by Lance Cpl. Sha'ahn Williams

This year it’s the 100th anniversary of Father’s Day, and boy, have things changed!

Here’s a little background on the day from the press release announcing a ceremony in Washington state to honor the woman who came up with the idea in 1909:

In a special Father’s Day ceremony on June 20, Sen Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, will honor the Washingtonian whose efforts sparked the establishing of an annual Father’s Day in Washington and across the country.

        
“Until Sonora Smart Dodd spoke up, Americans celebrated Mother’s Day but no one gave any thought to honoring the contributions of fathers,” said Kastama, the foremost advocate in the state Legislature for shared parenting. Kastama’s legislative proposals have long promoted greater parental involvement by estranged fathers and flagged the increasing incidence and disadvantages of children raised with little interaction with their fathers. “Sonora Smart Dodd appreciated her father’s pivotal role is raising her and her five brothers, and she wanted to recognize his dedication as a single dad,” he said.

           
Kastama, in turn, will honor Dodd by placing a wreath on her grave site to mark the centennial of the first Father’s Day celebration since Dodd persuaded the Spokane Ministerial Alliance to honor fathers locally with a special day.           
Though she had suggested June 5, her father’s birthday, the soonest church officials could schedule a day was the third Sunday in June in 1909. The following year that date was adopted nationally, and over time the holiday was formalized by a series of actions by presidents Woodrow Wilson, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.          
Saturday’s ceremony also honors Dodd’s father, William Smart, who raised Sonora and her five brothers by himself after the death of his wife, Ellen Victoria Cheek Smart, during the birth of their sixth child. Years later, upon hearing a church sermon about the newly installed Mother’s Day, Dodd was reminded of her reverence for her father and felt fathers deserved similar recognition.

In 2009, over at PJTV, Doc Helen discusses why dads matter.  The 24-minute video is entitled, The traditional family is now an alternative lifestyle, which presents a stark contrast to the place fathers used to hold in society a century ago.

The Canadian National Post wonders Why ads paint dads as buffoons.

 Meanwhile, President Obama’s official message on Father’s Day ‘09 includes the oblique suggestion that fathers aren’t much good at their jobs and need outside help. This is quite unlike the Mother’s Day proclamation which was nothing less than a tribute, with any finger-wagging notably absent.

10 years ago, the National Post wouldn’t have dared to question the prevailing attitude of the time – that men are pigs – and Doc Helen hadn’t yet emerged as a champion of men and fathers, so some progress has been made. By 2020, perhaps the tide will have turned again. We can only hope.

This year I want to extend special Father’s Day wishes to our men in uniform, many of whom will be separated from their children while stationed overseas.

I also want to remember all the fathers kept out of their children’s lives through divorce.

My husband and son live that alternative lifestyle where they’re married to their children’s mothers. My son will get to spend the day with his kids, which used to be nothing unusual, but today is truly a blessing.

If you’ve got a father in your life, even if he’s not your own, please take a minute to thank him or wish him the best; just in case nobody else remembered. You never know…