<P> In the Coptic Church, the celebration of fatherhood is also observed on St Joseph's Day, but the Copts observe this celebration on July 20 . This Coptic celebration may date back to the fifth century . </P> <P> Father's Day was not celebrated in the US, outside Catholic traditions, until the 20th century . As a civic celebration in the US, it was inaugurated in the early 20th century to complement Mother's Day by celebrating fathers and male parenting . </P> <P> After Anna Jarvis' successful promotion of Mother's Day in Grafton, West Virginia, the first observance of a "Father's Day" was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia, in the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South, now known as Central United Methodist Church . Grace Golden Clayton was mourning the loss of her father, when in December 1907, the Monongah Mining Disaster in nearby Monongah killed 361 men, 250 of them fathers, leaving around a thousand fatherless children . Clayton suggested that her pastor Robert Thomas Webb honor all those fathers . </P> <P> Clayton's event did not have repercussions outside Fairmont for several reasons, among them: the city was overwhelmed by other events, the celebration was never promoted outside the town itself and no proclamation of it was made by the city council . Also, two events overshadowed this event: the celebration of Independence Day July 4, 1908, with 12,000 attendants and several shows including a hot air balloon event, which took over the headlines in the following days, and the death of a 16 - year - old girl on July 4 . The local church and council were overwhelmed and they did not even think of promoting the event, and it was not celebrated again for many years . The original sermon was not reproduced by the press and it was lost . Finally, Clayton was a quiet person, who never promoted the event and never talked to other persons about it . </P>

When was the first father's day observed