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Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans honoring their Goddesses.
Up until the late 1800's, the Christian festival of “Mothering Sunday” was a major tradition in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe. Originally, it was a day for the faithful to return to their “mother church”—the main church in the vicinity of their home—for a special service.
Over time, the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would honor their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation. This custom eventually faded in popularity before merging with the American Mother’s Day in the 1930s and 1940s.
A mother's power has been harnessed to do good for centuries.
In West Virginia during the years before the Civil War (1861-65), Ann Reeves Jarvis helped start “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” to teach local women how to properly care for their children.
The clubs became a unifying force when much of the country was still divided over the Civil War. In 1868 Jarvis organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day,” on which mothers gathered with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation.
Another precursor to Mother’s Day came from the abolitionist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe who, in the late 1800's, wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” a call to action that asked mothers to unite in promoting world peace.
Today, Mother’s Day has also been a date for launching political or feminist causes. In 1968 Coretta Scott King used Mother’s Day to host a march in support of underprivileged women and children.
Today's Mother’s Day
The official Mother’s Day holiday arose in the 1900s. Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother’s Day as a way of honoring and celebrating the sacrifices mothers made for their children. After promoting her first National Mother's Day successfully, Jarvis—(who never actually became a mother), resolved to see her holiday added to the national calendar with the argument that American holidays were biased toward male achievements.
By 1912 her efforts resulted in many states, towns, and churches adopting Mother’s Day as an annual holiday, and Jarvis had established the Mother’s Day International Association to help promote her cause.
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
By 1920, Jarvis had become disgusted with how the holiday had been commercialized. She denounced the change and urged people to stop buying Mother’s Day flowers, cards and candies.
By 1912 her efforts resulted in many states, towns, and churches adopting Mother’s Day as an annual holiday, and Jarvis had established the Mother’s Day International Association to help promote her cause.
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
By 1920, Jarvis had become disgusted with how the holiday had been commercialized. She denounced the change and urged people to stop buying Mother’s Day flowers, cards and candies.
By the time of her death in 1948 Jarvis had disowned the holiday altogether, and even actively lobbied the government to see it removed from the American calendar.
