The History of Mother's Day

Mother's Day happens to fall on May 10th this year, which is exactly 95 years from the time that Mother's Day was officially declared by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914, as an official day of "National Observance of Mother's Day" in the U.S. and suggesting that it should always be on the second Sunday in May.

Celebrating mothers is time-honored tradition. The Greeks held an annual spring festival in dedication to Rhea, the mother of the gods; while the ancient Romans paid tribute to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated this festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Christ.  In England, this holiday was expanded to include all mothers and was called Mothering Sunday.

Anna Reeves JarvisIn the United States, the earliest Mother's Day or Mothers' Work Days began in 1858 in West Virginia. Anna Reeves Jarvis, a local teacher and mother of Anna Jarvis, wanted to work for improved sanitation in her city. During the Civil War she extended the purpose of Mothers' Work Days to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides in the conflict.

When Anna Reeves Jarvis passed away, her daughter Anna Jarvis declared at her grave site that she was going to dedicate her life to her mother's project and establish a Mother's Day to honor all mothers, living and dead.

Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen and politicians, including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt, to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, she handed out her mother's favorite flower, the white carnation. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914, Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed the bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.

Anna JarvisThe second Sunday of May has become the one of the most popular days of the year to send flowers and dine out; while telephone companies record some of their highest traffic of the year on Mother's Day. Be sure to read my earlier blog about flowers and what certain colors and varieties symbolize, if you are sending Mom blooms today.