The History of Mother’s Day
With Mother’s Day approaching this weekend, I thought maybe we would take a moment to delve into the history of the holiday. To be honest, despite my love of all things historical, I never put much thought into the origins of Mother’s Day. OF course we take a day to celebrate mothers, right? It isn’t like everyone doesn’t have a mother or know a mother; so why wouldn’t we celebrate them?
Fun Fact: I was surprised to learn is that we celebrate Father’s Day BECAUSE we celebrate Mother’s Day.
This whole thing started because of a woman named Ann Jarvis, a woman who, during the Civil War, united a group of women throughout West Virginia and convinced them to be non-partisan (which, considering the tension and fact that their sons were likely out being slaughtered over very partisan beliefs, is pretty incredible) so that they could nurse wounded soldier’s from either side back to health at the same facility without either fearing that they were in danger.
After the war, with the help of her daughter, Anna Jarvis, she became a proponent of a “Mothers’ Work Day” which emphasized the roll of mother’s in pacifism and utilizing that mindset towards activism.
Ann died in 1905, and after her death, her daughter, Anna, rallied and petitioned to make Mother’s Day a nationally recognized holiday. Woodrow Wilson signed off on the cause in 1914.
Mother’s Day is more than a generic holiday created by greeting card companies, it is a celebration of the power and potential mothers have. Their compassion, love and spirit that is capable of not just creating life, but saving it and in doing so changing the course of history.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing, powerful, loving mothers out there!
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