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Welcome to
101 Mother's Day! From the first hug,the first lullaby,begins her
gift of love.As a teacher,guide and friend she is truly a WOW
woman.Read more about the history of Mothers Day right
here!! |
Mother's Day History |
Anna Jarvis,
daughter of Anna Reeves Jarvis, who had moved from Grafton, West Virginia, to
Philadelphia, in 1890, was the power behind the official
establishment of Mother's Day
- swore at her mother's gravesite in
1905 to dedicate her life to her mother's project, and establish a Mother's Day to honor mothers, living and dead
- a persistent rumor is that Anna's
grief was intensified because she and her mother had quarreled and
her mother died before they could reconcile
- in 1907 she passed out 500 white
carnations at her mother's church, St. Andrew's Methodist Episcopal
Church in Grafton, West Virginia -- one for each mother in the
congregation
- May 10,
1908: the first church --
St. Andrew's in Grafton, West Virginia -- responded to her request
for a Sunday service honoring mothers
- 1908: John Wanamaker, a
Philadelphia merchant, joined the campaign for Mother's
Day
- also in 1908: the first bill was
presented in the U.S. Senate proposing establishment of Mother's
Day, by Nebraska Senator Elmer Burkett, at the request of the Young
Men's Christian Association. The proposal was killed by sending it
back to committee, 33-14.
- 1909: Mother's Day services were
held in 46 states plus Canada and Mexico
- Anna Jarvis gave up her job --
sometimes reported as a teaching job, sometimes as a job clerking
in an insurance office -- to work full-time writing letters to
politicians, clergy members, business leaders, women's clubs and
anyone else she thought might have some influence
- Anna Jarvis was able to enlist the World's Sunday School Association in the lobbying campaign,
a key success factor in convincing legislators in states and in the
U.S. Congress to support the holiday
- 1912: West Virginia became the
first state to adopt an official Mother's Day
- 1914: the U.S. Congress passed a Joint Resolution, and
President Woodrow Wilson signed it, establishing Mother's
Day, emphasizing women's role in the family (not as activists
in the public arena, as Howe's Mother's Day had been)
Click here to read the full details. |
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