National Grandparents Day was founded by Jacob Reingold and Marian McQuade.  In 1961, during the White House Conference on Aging, Reingold was inspired to focus on the role of grandparents in society and he subsequently held the first Grandparents Day at his retirement home later that year. By 1961, the New York borough of the Bronx had made Grandparents Day an official holiday. Then, in 1970, Mrs. McQuade began to petition for the government to proclaim a day for grandparents. In 1973, the first Grandparents Day was proclaimed in West Virginia and in 1978, bill to proclaim National Grandparents Day was signed by President Jimmy Carter.