Sonora Smart Dodd thought her father William Jackson Smart deserved the same honor mothers had with Mother's Day, so in 1910 Dodd got her hometown of Spokane, Washington to honor fathers with Father's Day. The celebration grew after newspapers reported the observation of Father's Day in Washington State, even receiving recognition from Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge. The holiday didn't become official, however, until 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation that designated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.
(Lloyd, James H. "Father's Day., opens a new window" St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Gale, 2013. U.S. History In Context.)
