History Series: Mother’s Day
History of Mother’s Day
Ancient and Modern Sources
The person who initially was most active in opposing the celebration of Mother’s Day is the very person who started this holiday in the U.S.
How did that happen?
Anna Jarvis’ mother died in 1905, and in her honor, Anna held a memorial in 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia. She continued to campaign for national recognition of this day for all mothers through the assistance of John Wanamaker and the efforts of Bethany Temple Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. The first state to recognize Mother’s Day was her own, West Virginia, in 1910. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the “second Sunday in May” as Mother’s Day in 1914.
The spelling was significant: Anna Jarvis did not spell it “Mothers’ Day” because she intended, as she said, it should “be singular possessive, for each family to honor its mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers of the world.” Nevertheless, in more modern times, both “Mothers’ Day” and “Mother’s Day” appear as names for this holiday.
Carnations for Mother’s Day
Although there had been previous efforts to start a mother’s day associated with pacifistic mothers during the American Civil War, some organized by…
