Father’s Day was not celebrated in the US, outside Catholic traditions, until the
early 20th century. As a civic celebration in the US, it was inaugurated then
to complement Mother’s Day by celebrating fathers and male parenting.

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.