Book Displays: May ~ Mother's Day

Mother’s Day occurs on the second Sunday in May in the United States. The American incarnation of Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother’s Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children. Another precursor to Mother’s Day came from the abolitionist and suffragist Julia Ward Howe. In 1870, Howe wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” a call to action that asked mothers to unite in promoting world peace and campaigned for a “Mother’s Peace Day”.

President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation on May 9, 1914, asking Americans to give a public expression of reverence to mothers through the celebration of Mother’s Day. Carnations have come to represent the day as they were distributed at one of the first commemorations honoring the mother of the founder of Mother’s Day. Anna Jarvis, a Grafton, West Virginia native, is credited with conceiving and launching the campaign that resulted in the creation of a national day honoring mothers in the United States. Legislative actions and annual Congressional proclamations documented in the Congressional Record praise her tireless efforts to create a lasting commemoration to her mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis, as well as to all mothers, living and deceased. Other women appealed to the organized force of mothers for various causes. Woman suffrage was another important cause of the time. Mothers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Elizabeth Smith Miller were pivotal in organizing women to rally for their right to vote.

Document in the National Archives

On this date, the Members of the House of Representatives wore white carnations to honor American mothers in the Capitol's first observance of Mother’s Day.