People all across the United States celebrate Mother’s Day on May 9. People not only recognize their mothers on this day, but also those who have had a maternal role in their life. What many may not know about this day is that it was originally not quite like the way we celebrate it today.
Mother’s Day began in the United States and is said to be created by Anna Jarvis, but its origins go back a little further to her mother, Anne Reeves Jarvis.
Anne Jarvis was among those who participated in Mother’s Day work clubs in West Virginia in the 1850s that made efforts to improve sanitary conditions for families and decrease the infant mortality rate. During the United States Civil War, the club assisted injured soldiers that were from both the Union and Confederate armies. After the war, they worked to bring opponents together through Mother’s Friendship Day picnics.
Anne Jarvis died in 1905, and Anna Jarvis officially started Mother’s Day with a memorial service at her mother’s church in West Virginia in 1907. Jarvis, who had moved to Philadelphia, reached out to newspapers and politicians in an attempt to get the day recognized nationally. She also went on to create the Mother’s Day International Association. President Woodrow Wilson officially made Mother’s Day a holiday on the second Sunday of May in the United States in 1914.
Originally, Jarvis encouraged people to wear white carnations in honor of their mothers – this is the official flower for the holiday. Eventually, however, this was changed to a white carnation being worn for mothers who died and pink or red were worn for those still living. Other women who acted similar to mothers, such as grandmothers and aunts, were also later honored through the holiday.
Mother’s Day, which now brings in an annual $25 billion in the United States, did not always involve flowers, jewelry and cards. The reason Anna Jarvis promoted Mother’s Day was much simpler: for children to honor and love their own mothers.
In fact, when the holiday started to become more commercialized, Jarvis fought against it. She despised the idea that money had become involved with the holiday and even attempted to abolish it – going as far as organizing lawsuits against businesses who profited off the day – until she died in 1948.
Way before Mother’s Day in the United States, there was Mothering Day in the United Kingdom. This day occurred on the fourth Sunday of Lent and gave children the opportunities to return to their “mother church” and visit their mothers. It is still celebrated on the fourth Sunday every year, but is now more commonly called Mother’s Day and also has similar traditions of the American Mother’s Day today.
Mother’s Day is also celebrated in various forms in countries all over the world. In Ethiopia, the day is also known as “Antrosht” and people return home after the rainy season ends for a three-day festival, where mothers actually play a part in cooking the meals. France celebrates the day similarly to the United States, but celebrates it on the fourth Sunday of May. Mother’s Day is on May 10 in Mexico, where families fill the restaurants, no matter the day of the week, and also celebrate with flowers and music.
Rebekah Davidson
Intern