On June 19, 1910, thanks to Sonora Smart Dodd, a Father’s Day celebration was held at the YMCA in Spokane, Wash. The Spokane service is considered to be the beginning of Father’s Day in the United States.
The loss of fathers
Mrs. Dodd was one of six children raised by Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, a widowed father. In gratitude for her father and all fathers, she worked successfully to establish a day to honor her father and all fathers.
I recently learned about another Father’s Day celebration that occurred earlier than the one in Spokane, Washington.
On December. 6, 1907, a methane gas explosion occurred in Fairmont Coal Co.’s No. 6 and No. 8 mines, located in Monongah, W.V.
This explosion killed more than 360 men in the country’s worst mining disaster ever. The explosion left about 1,000 children fatherless.
Grace Golden Clayton, a Monongah resident, fostered the idea to honor the fathers with a ceremony at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church on July 5, 1908.
Clayton’s celebration was not repeated perhaps because it was overshadowed by a Fourth of July celebration that attracted 12,000 people to Fairmont, and the death of Lucy Billingslea, a popular 21-year-old woman of the Williams Memorial Church’s congregation.
As a result of the American Civil War, many children became orphans.
In an article entitled “Civil War Widows”, Angela Esco Elder wrote, “The American Civil War created an unprecedented number of young white widows, many married for a short time. (Some of them were pregnant.)
Between 1861 and 1865, approximately three million husbands, fathers, sons, uncles, and brothers left for war. Approximately 750,000 American families would never see their loved one’s face again. Some 200,000 white women became widows within these four years.”
Importance of fathers
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the vital importance of the father’s role comes from the fact that, with his wife, he cooperates with God the Creator in bringing a new human life into the world.
When children are raised with fathers present, children have much lower rates of delinquency, drug, and alcohol use, teen pregnancy, and so on, than those with absent fathers.
The father’s presence is also a significant positive factor in the children’s getting a college education, finding a satisfying job, and making a lasting marriage.
A girl’s choice of a partner and satisfaction in marriage is often directly related to the relationship she has had with her father.
In his general audience on January 28, 2015, Pope Francis said, “In our modern societies, we are experiencing a crisis of fatherhood. In the past it was common practice to perceive the image of the father as authoritarian and at times even repressive; but, today we sense uncertainty and confusion about the father’s role. Without father figures, young people often feel ‘orphaned’, left adrift at a critical moment in their growth and development.”
In March at Holy Rosary church in Darlington, Wis. I was invited to be one of the confessors for the Men of Christ group. It was a virtual event. Men of Christ is one of a number of movements and efforts to strengthen fatherhood and invite fathers to live their faith boldly. There are also Women of Christ groups.
For decades, I (and other priests) have emphasized St. Joseph and fatherhood’s importance in preaching, teaching, and writing. The Year of St. Joseph is a graced time for everyone to honor a dad’s importance.
On Father’s Day, like Sonora Dodd, we have graced opportunities to thank our father. If he has died, we can visit his grave or remember him in prayer. If he is alive, we can visit him.
One of the best ways to thank him is to be the best son or daughter we can be! Whether he is alive on earth or in Eternity, may our dad enjoy a happy Father’s Day.
Fr. Donald Lange is pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison.