Mother's Day History and Links
From my early a.m. surfing, here are some links and a brief (?) history of Mother's Day:
Simple Summaries on the Web
123holiday.net
- a no frills explanation
An Indiana science teacher has this page that includes a brief history, quotes, and Bible verses.
It’s a cute page complete with a MIDI piano version of “Mother” song, “M is for the Million things she
gave us…”. That’s not to be confused with the Jerry Jeff Walker song “Up
Against the Wall Redneck Mother” that I grew up listening to. It also has an acronym
for mother. Thankfully, I can’t recall right it right now.
For Teachers (including home school parents)
canteach.com - 8 links that included Mother’s Day quotes,
history, clip art, etc.
kidsdomain.com - printables, crafts, book reviews
Official White House Page about Mother's Day - 2002 News Release
For Infofanatics, My Picks from about.com
women’s history - 17
links that include early Mother's Days, origin of Mother's Day in U.S., Mother's
Day statistics, and Mother's Days around the world.
Anna Jarvis and Mother’s Day - factoid type report about the woman responsible for Mother's Day
Caught my attention that she never had
children. I wonder why. Could her pursuit of the holiday have hindered her
relationships? Maybe she just didn’t want children?
Another thing I noticed - MD became a national
holiday in 1914, yet by the early 20’s she was upset at the commercialism of
the holiday. Wouldn’t she freak out
now? I guess you can’t legilslate
sentiment. That’s not an argument against national holidays, just a reminder
that it’s a matter of the heart.
Early Forms of Mother's Day
*ancient Greeks celebrated a type of Mother
Day – to celebrate the mother of gods, Rhea
*starting around the 1600’s England began observing “Mothering Day” , also known as "Mothering Sunday" . It is the 4th Sunday of Lent, so the date changes from year to year, so it has a religious origin. During the times when servants lived with their employers, they were given the day off to visit their mothers for Mothering Day.
Mothers Day in the U.S. (most info from a kidsdomain.com article)
*1872 -Julia Ward Howe (writer of the
“Battle Hymn of the Republic”) worked in Boston to get June 2 recognized as
Mother’s Day as a day of peace.
*Prior to 1905 (when she died) Mrs.
Anna Reese Jarvis, from West Virginia, worked for Mother’s Day - one article says to heal Civil War wounds between
families and one source says to bring attention to the poor healthcare in her
community.
*1907- Miss Anna Jarvis, is responsible the first unofficial Mother’s
Day church service at her deceased mother’s (Mrs. Anna Reese Jarvis) church in
West Virginia.
*1908- Miss Jarvis’s church in Philadelphia
recognized it.
*1910- Governor of West Virginia issued the
1st Mother’s Day proclamation. Oklahoma also celebrated it.
*1911 – Every state observed Mother’s Day.
*1912 – Mother’s Day International
Association formed to promote meaningful observances of Mother’s Day.
*1914 – May 8th Congress passed a Joint Resolution in May declaring the 2nd Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. On May 9th President Woodrow Wilson issued a Mother’s Day proclamation.
Ta-da. Gee, that doesn't look like 3 plus hours of writing and research.
Lexie: Glad we reconnected through Dr.'s office and my Dell daughter. Luv your website.
Posted by: Martha/formerly from Sam's Days | May 09, 2005 at 02:27 PM