Past History:
Children’s Day observations in the United States predate both Mother’s and Father’s Day.
The celebration of a special Children’s Day in America dates from the 1860s and earlier.
The Methodist Episcopal Church at the Methodist Conference of 1868 recommended that second Sunday in June be observed annually as Children’s Day.[1]
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1883 designated the “the second Sabbath in June as Children’s Day.”[2]
Also in 1883, the National Council of Congregational Churches and nearly all the state bodies of that denomination in the United States passed resolutions commending the observance of the day. About this time many other denominations adopted similar recommendations.[3]
The New York Times in a June 10, 1895 article writes about Children’s Day observances in New York City.
Chase’s Calendar of Events cites Children’s Sunday and notes that The Commonwealth of Massachusetts issues an annual proclamation for the second Sunday in June.
Numerous churches and denominations, including the African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, now observe the second Sunday in June as Children’s Day.
More information on Children’s Day in the United States and in other countries is available from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The current state of children in America:
Today, children need your help! They need the assistance of parents, other adults, educators, religious and business leaders, to cope with the many issues and problems that they face in the 21st century. This website is dedicated to revive Children’s Day as a tool of support and commitment to America’s children.
And you can be a part of this great movement!
This enterprise to rebirth Children’s Day, which began in 2005 with a spark from my late mother Mabel, is centered on three main points…
- Governors/state legislatures and mayors/city councils issuing proclamations of support and hopefully the President…spread the word by Facebook and Twitter.
- The signing of commitment cards (for this year) by parents, individuals, and leaders.
- Using
Facebook, Facebook page and Twitter, to keep the discussion and commitment at a year-round level.
Notes:
1. McFarland, John T. (1915). “Children’s Day”. The Encyclopedia of Sunday School and Religious Education, vol. 1. New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons. 238. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
2. Moorehead, James H. (Spring/Summer 2005). “Our Documentary History: Children’s Sunday in the Presbyterian Church“. The Journal of Presbyterian History 83 (1):85.
3. McFarland, The Encyclopedia of Sunday School and Religious Education, vol. 1., p. 238.
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