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Anna Jarvis
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- Anna Jarvis
- Related Topics:
- United States
- Father’s Day
- holiday
- May
- mother
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Top Questions
When is Mother’s Day?
When is Mother’s Day?
Mother’s Day is celebrated in the United States on the second Sunday in May.
How did Mother’s Day start?
How did Mother’s Day start?
Anna Jarvis celebrated the first Mother’s Day when, on May 12, 1907, she held a memorial service honoring her late mother in Grafton, West Virginia. Jarvis’s mother, Ann, had organized women’s groups to promote friendship and health, and Jarvis led a campaign to establish a holiday that recognized the importance of mothers to their families. Her efforts were successful: within five years virtually every U.S. state was observing Mother’s Day, and in 1914 U.S. President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday.
Jarvis, who died in 1948, spent the last years of her life trying to abolish the holiday, as a protest against its commercialization.
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Mother’s Day, holiday in honour of mothers that is celebrated in countries throughout the world. In its modern form the holiday originated in the United States, where it is observed on the second Sunday in May. Many other countries also celebrate the holiday on this date, while some mark the observance at other times of the year. During the Middle Ages the custom developed of allowing those who had moved away to visit their home parishes and their mothers on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. This became Mothering Sunday in Britain, where it continued into modern times, although it has largely been replaced by Mother’s Day.
Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, whose mother had organized women’s groups to promote friendship and health, originated Mother’s Day. On May 12, 1907, she held a memorial service at her late mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia. Within five years virtually every state was observing the day, and in 1914 U.S. Pres. Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday. Although Jarvis had promoted the wearing of a white carnation as a tribute to one’s mother, the custom developed of wearing a red or pink carnation to represent a living mother or a white carnation for a mother who was deceased. Over time the day was expanded to include others, such as grandmothers and aunts, who played mothering roles. What had originally been primarily a day of honour became associated with the sending of cards and the giving of gifts, however, and, in protest against its commercialization, Jarvis spent the last years of her life trying to abolish the holiday she had brought into being.
Festivals honouring mothers and mother goddesses date to ancient times. The Phrygians held a festival for Cybele, the Great Mother of the Gods, as did the Greeks for the goddess Rhea. Likewise, the Romans adapted the practice to their own pantheon. Some countries have continued to observe ancient festivals; for example, Durga-puja, honouring the goddess Durga, remains an important festival in India.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Meg Matthias.
