Mother's Day, A Brief History

Ann Reeves Jarvis was a peace activist who cared for the wounded during the Civil War and organized Mother’s Day Work Clubs to educate women on health issues related to motherhood. When she died in 1905, her daughter Anna Jarvis began working to create a national holiday to honor her mother and the work she had done. A West Virginia memorial service dedicated to her mother in 1908 is considered by many to be the first modern celebration of Mother’s Day.

It would not be until 1914 that President Woodrow Wilson would sign the proclamation making Mother’s Day an official national holiday. Scheduled for the second Sunday in May, the original intent was to recognize and honor the contributions of mothers everywhere. Despite the proclamation, Anna Jarvis soon found herself disillusioned with the new holiday. Imagining handwritten notes and gifts, she resented the commercialization led by the Hallmark Company and others and was soon organizing boycotts of the very holiday she had championed.

Today, we celebrate and honor those who have given us so much, our moms. Anna Jarvis believed that we should each celebrate our own mother, specifically, not generally. She even copyrighted the use of Mother’s Day, insisting on the singular possessive form to emphasize not all mothers, but each individual one. My own mother has passed and my wonderful mother-in-law, as well, but I think of them often, especially on this day. As the mother of my children, my wife is also to be honored this day. I pray for all the women in my life who have had the honor and privilege of becoming mothers. So to my sister, sister-in-laws, aunts, cousins, other relatives, and friends, Happy Mother’s Day. God bless you all!