father's day became a national holiday in 1972.
father's day became a national holiday in 1972.
when did father's day become a national holiday?
1972
a bill to accord national recognition of the holiday was introduced in congress in 1913. in 1916, president woodrow wilson went to spokane to speak at a father's day celebration and he wanted to make it an officially recognized federal holiday, but congress resisted, fearing that it would become commercialized. us president calvin coolidge recommended in 1924 that the day be observed throughout the entire nation, but he stopped short at issuing a national proclamation. two earlier attempts to formally recognize the holiday had been defeated by congress. in 1957, maine senator margaret chase smith wrote a father's day proposal accusing congress of ignoring fathers for 40 years while honoring mothers, thus "[singling] out just one of our two parents". in 1966, president lyndon b. johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third sunday in 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
hale may be the individual most responsible for making thanksgiving a national holiday in the united states; it had previously been celebrated mostly in new england. each state scheduled its own holiday, some as early as october and others as late as january; it was largely unknown in the american south. her advocacy for the national holiday began in 1846 and lasted 17 years before it was successful. in support of the proposed national holiday, hale wrote letters to five presidents of the united states: zachary taylor, millard fillmore, franklin pierce, james buchanan, and abraham lincoln. her initial letters failed to persuade, but the letter she wrote to lincoln convinced him to support legislation establishing a national holiday of thanksgiving in 1863. the new national holiday was considered a unifying day after the stress of the american civil war. before thanksgiving's addition, the only national holidays celebrated in the united states were washington's birthday and independence day.
sarah josepha hale