National Children’s Day – June 11, 2023

History of National Children’s Day

National Children’s Day has been celebrated in the U.S. since the 1800s, although there have been variations in deciding the date and day on which it will be celebrated. Ever since 1857, there have been changes in the dates of celebration.

Reverend Dr. Charles Leonard was the first to establish Children’s Day in 1857 on the second Sunday of June and named the day Rose Day. Leonard was the pastor of the Universalist Church of the Redeemer in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and organized the day to hold a special service dedicated to, and for children, including baptizing them. The name was later changed from Rose Day to Flower Sunday, and then eventually called Children’s Day.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton changed the date to October 8 and established it as National Children’s Day. This was later followed by President George Bush proclaiming that the first Sunday of June should be celebrated as National Children’s Day.

However, in 2009, Pat Quinn, the Governor of Illinois, proclaimed that National Children’s Day will be celebrated on the second Sunday of June every year — and that’s how it has been since then. Many other nations celebrate the rights of children on November 20, which is the day nominated by the United Nations. November 20 is considered an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. On the same date in 1989, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Since 1990, World Children’s Day also marked the anniversary of the date that the U.N. General Assembly adopted both the Declaration as well as the Convention on children’s rights.