Mot jer’s Day Origins And Traditions
Miss Jarvis has an idea...
Mother’s Day! It wasn’t a
singular, new idea, and
Miss Jarvis wasn’t the first
woman to dream it. (Julia
Ward Howe tried ever so
hard to get Mother’s Day
into the vernacular as far
back as 1S70, when she
tried to wave it into an
international movement
for peace, following the
Franco-German War.)
Miss Jarvis (Anna
Reeves) re-invented the
idea at the right time with
the emotional appeal that
struck a harmonious chord
in the hearts of all Ameri
ca.
The time was 1007. Miss
Jarvis’ mother had recent
ly died. She mourned her
loss so deeply, that she
confided to a group of
friends her desire to
Mother’s Day a national
observance, out of love and
respect for her own
mother.
She had a deep convic
tion that all the mothers in
the country would confe to
appreciate the significance
of a day set to honor them,
to pay them special ho
mage for all that they had
achieved, for all that they
had given, to the rapidly
expanding nation which
had only recently spread
from coast to coast.
By May, 1908, her idea of
a Mother’s Day burst upon
Grafton, W.V., where the
Jarvis family had lived
prior to moving to Phila
delphia.
It took the encourage
ment of John Wane maker,
Philadelphia merchant
philanthropist, and the cb
ordinatod action of civic
groups to bring the idea to
fruition.
Like so many other
revered holidays, Mother’s
Day started as a modest
church observance,,
walked by a spasiat
sermon delivered in a
Grafton church, which still
survives as a aational
shrine to this beloved hol
iday. More than 96 percent
of America marks
Mother’s Day with special
activities ranging from
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silent prayer to elaborate
gifts, dinners and formal
and informal family
gatherings.
By 1910, only'two years
after the birth of the idea.
Governor William E.
Glassman proclaimed
Mother’s Day as a state
holiday. On the wings of
immediate acceptance,
Congress, by joint r
resolution, made Mother’s '
Day a national holiday in
1913. „
President Woodrow
. Wilson had the honor of
issuing the first Mother’s
Day Proclamation,
designating that it be
observed the second
Sunday of every May in all
the states, territories and
dependencies of the United
States.
The rest if hallowed
tradition. Mother's Day is
no longer solely an
American holiday, but a
day enjoyed * and
participated in by many
nations all over the world.
The 77th Mother’s Day will
be celebrated on May 12,
1985 - when much of the
western world pauses to
pay tribute to the unending
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responsibilities and
gratifications •> of
motherhood.
Miss Jarvis’ original
concept was founded on
the notion of modest
expression of reverence - a
special letter to mother, a
visit to her on Mother’s
Day, perhaps the token of a
flower, so many of which
covered the West Virginia
countryside in early May.
But the personal letter
has been • largely
supplanted by the greeting
card, some lavish beyond
Miss Jarvis’ imagination.
The casual visit has
become a feast at a posh
restaurant or even a trip
for mom to some fantasy
vacation resort. The simple
wild flower has became a
beautiful potted plant or a
lavish bouquet of long
stemmed roses. But the
symbolism of the simple
carnation, Miss Jarvis’
mother’s favorite flower,
has not been lost in the
explosion resulting from
'
her idea. •
Miss Jarvis dedicated
her life to the promulgation
of the Mother’s Day
movement. She lobbied in
Congress, she solicited
support in state houses, she
wrote copiously, collected
clippings, and became
obsessed with her concept
as it grew little by little,
over the decades. Finally,
Mother’s Day had taken a
life of its own.
When Miss Jaryis died in
1948 she was lonely, per*
haps disturbed, yet she had
been rewarded by the
international embrace of
her vision of a special
Mother’s Day, based on
emotional gratitude.
Our expression of
Mother’s Day has been
spontaneous. America, and
the world, took to Mother’s
Day and made it the
• beloved holiday we
celebrate the second
Sunday of every May.
This year, Mother’s Day
is May 12th.
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