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Holidays 101: What is Grandparents' Day?
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Grandparents' Day is September 13, 2009
September 13, 2009 is Grandparents' Day. Like Mother's Day and Father's Day, it is a time to celebrate some pretty important people in our families.
But many people don't even know of Grandparents' Day and many grandparents are a bit irked by this. Apparantly, the AARP is doing a better job of informing grandparents of the day, than Hallmark is of getting their kids to acknowledge the event.
Surprising as it may seem, this is actually the 30th year in which Grandparents' Day is officially being celebrated in the US.
Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade, an Oak Hill, W. Va., housewife, is credited as the founder of this holiday. McQuade had worked with senior citizens for many years and her original idea for the holiday was not only to recognize grandparents but all seniors, especially those in nursing homes.
She began her campaign locally in 1970, eventually drawing the attention of U.S. Senator Jennings Randolph (D., W. Va.), who lobbied Gov. Arch Moore to establish a statewide day for grandparents. In 1973, Moore did just that and Randolph introduced a Grandparent Day resolution in Congress.
Congress dragged its feet on the Resolution for several years. Then, in 1978, after McQuade and her supporters brought media pressure to bear, Congress passed legislation declaring the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. Carter signed a National Grandparents' Day Proclamation on September 6, 1979, and the first Grandparents Day was celebrated three days later.
In 1989, the U.S. Postal Service honored McQuade with a commemorative envelope bearing her likeness to acknowledge the tenth anniversary of the holiday. McQuade, sadly, passed away in 2008 at the age of of 91. She was the mother of 15, the grandmother of 43, and the great-grandmother of 15.
Read the Grandparents' Day Proclamation signed by President Carter.
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