Mother's
Day
(2nd Sunday in May)
A
Brief History. Most sources agree that the earliest Mother's
Day celebrations occurred to honour Rhea, mother of the ancient
Greek gods. During the 17th century, England celebrated a
"Mothering Sunday" during which the servants were
encouraged to return home and visit their mothers. There was
even a special cake called a mothering cake as part of the
day's feast.
The
modern Mother's Day was suggested by Julia Ward Howe (who
wrote the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic)
in 1872. In 1907 Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia began a campaign
to establish a national Mother's Day and persuaded her mother's
church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother's Dan
on the second anniversary of her mother's death - the 2nd
Sunday of May. In 1908 Mother's Day was also celebrated in
Philadelphia.
In
1910 West Virginia became the first state to recognise Mother's
Day and a year later nearly every state officially marked
it. It was more or less just a formality when President Woodrow
Wilson officially proclaimed Mother's Day to be a national
holiday in 1914
Ironically,
Anna Jarvis spent the rest of her life trying to undo what
she had done. In 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's
Day festival and was arrested for disturbing the peace at
a war mother's convention. "This is not what I intended,"
she said, "I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not
profit!"
Most
of the above is from Blackdog4Kids
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Julia
Ward Howe (May 27, 1819 - October 17, 1910): Howe was
a fascinating woman for reasons beyond her Mother's
Day Proclamation and writing the lyrics of The
Battle Hymn of the Republic (see also "Blood Upon
the Risers" in the sidebar to the right). She became
one of the first vice presidents of the New England Woman's
Club as well as one of the leaders of the American Woman Suffrage
Association. You can find a brief bio here.
She also
was fairly handy with the quotable quote, such as "Marriage,
like death, is a debt we owe to nature." More quotes
can be found here.
She spoke
at the Parliament of the World's Religions at the 1893 Colombian
Exposition, Chicago World's Fair where her topic was "What
Is Religion?" Here speech can be found here.
Various
of her poems can be found here.
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Anna
Jarvis (May 1, 1864 - Nov. 24, 1948): "A printed
card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to
the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world.
And candy! You take a box to Mother — and then eat most
of it yourself. A pretty sentiment." Anna Jarvis was
a very unhappy woman about the way Mother's Day turned out.
You can
find an overview of her life at the
Mother's Day Tribute page. There is also a good, concise
bio on her at Main
Street Mom.
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