Many people (especially Moms!) feel Mother’s Day should be celebrated every day, but the official holiday always falls on the second Sunday in May; this year, May 12 is Mother’s Day. How did the holiday come into being? The celebration owes its existence to the tireless efforts of Philadelphia resident, Anna Jarvis. Following the 1905 death of her mother, social activist and community organizer Ann Reeves Jarvis, Anna Jarvis held a memorial service at the Methodist Church in Grafton, Virginia, in May, 1907, to honor her mother’s activism and the sacrifices made by mothers everywhere. Subsequently, she initiated a nation wide letter writing campaign, lobbying for the creation of a national Mother’s Day holiday. Her efforts paid off; on May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as “Mother’s Day.” Sadly, years later, Jarvis became so incensed at the commercialization of the day that she spent the remainder of her life (she died in 1948) and her inheritance trying to rescind the holiday she had created.
Despite the irony of Anna Jarvis’ about-face on the holiday, let us give a shout out to Moms everywhere by reflecting on the value of family, in good times and bad. Click here to learn more about Anna Jarvis and the history of Mother’s Day. And do check out the books below, which portray motherhood in all its nuances. Click on a book jacket to be taken to a catalog link.
“A mom is like a teabag. You can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” Eleanor Roosevelt
“A mother understands what a child does not say.” Jewish proverb
“My mother was the one constant in my life.” Barack Obama