The Story of “Mother’s Day”
Have you ever wondered who created Mother’s Day? Well, I assure you that in fact it was a woman…
Here is the story on how Mother’s Day became “Mother’s Day.” Enjoy!
Mother’s Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. She began holding an organized Mother’s Day meeting in Boston, Massachusetts every year. But it wasn’t until 1907 when Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia began a campaign to establish a national Mother’s Day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother’s Day on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, the 2nd Sunday of May. By the next year Mother’s Day was celebrated in Grafton as well as Philadelphia.
Ms. Jarvis and several of her supporters began to petition ministers, business and community leaders, and politicians in their effort to establish a national Mother’s Day. In 1910, the governor of West Virginia proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day and just a year later every state celebrated it. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed Mother’s Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the second Sunday of May.
