A History of Mother's Day

Ed Girard

Last weekend most of us celebrated Mother’s Day in one fashion or another. A phone call to say, “I love you,” a card, flowers, or a nice lunch to let a mother in your life know how much you appreciate her. As the weekend was approaching, I was curious to learn the origins of the day. I assumed that it might be one of those days on the calendar that was thought up by marketers to sell flowers or cards. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this was not the case.

The creation of national Mother’s Day is attributed to Anna Jarvis after the death of her mother Anna Reeves Jarvis. The very first Mother’s Day was celebrated at the Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia in May 1907 in memory of Anna Reeves Jarvis and her lifelong activism. Anna R. Jarvis was a lifelong advocate for improved living conditions, reducing infant mortality rates, and educating and helping mothers in the mid and late 1800s. Mother’s Day was formally identified as a holiday by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. Anna Jarvis’ daughter was later dismayed that the day became commercialized and only focused on recognizing mothers, instead of continuing to recognize the need for improved conditions for women, children, and families.  

I found this story fascinating and a little bittersweet. I love that we recognize mothers and am a little saddened, as was Anna Jarvis, that we, as a society, quickly dismissed the larger point that was being advocated for with the creation of Mother’s Day. Over 100 years after its creation, women are still having to fight for themselves. I am reminded about something I have heard Pastor Ladd state numerous times - that women are the most oppressed people group in the history of mankind.

I find myself reflecting on how we are doing as a community of believers in Christ. Are we advocating and working to be the community Jesus wanted for us? “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) I now think of Mother’s Day differently and am grateful that I was prompted by the Spirit to look up the story behind it.