Mother's Day is
set apart every year in honor of motherhood. On the
second Sunday in May, many families and churches make
a special point of honoring mothers. Many people
follow the custom of wearing a carnation on Mother's
Day. A colored carnation means that a person's mother
is living. A white carnation indicates that a
person's mother is dead.
A day
for honoring mothers was observed many years ago in
England. It was called Mothering
Sunday, and came in mid-Lent.
People in other European nations have observed
similar days.
Julia
Ward Howe made the first known suggestion for a
Mother's Day in the United States in 1872. She
suggested that people observe a Mother's Day on June
2 as a day dedicated to peace. For several years, she
held an annual Mother's Day meeting in Boston. Mary
Towles Sasseen, a Kentucky schoolteacher, started
conducting Mother's Day celebrations in 1887. Frank
E. Hering of South Bend, Indiana, launched a campaign
for the observance of Mother's Day in 1904.
Three
years later, Anna Jarvis of Grafton, West Virginia,
and Philadelphia, began a campaign for a nationwide
observance of Mother's Day. She chose the second
Sunday in May, and began the custom of wearing a
carnation. On May 10, 1908, churches in Grafton and
Philadelphia held Mother's Day celebrations. The
service at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in
Grafton honored the memory of Anna Jarvis's own
mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis.
At the
General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1912, a delegate from
Andrews Church introduced a resolution recognizing
Anna Jarvis as the founder of Mother's Day. It
suggested that the second Sunday in May be observed
as Mother's Day.
Mother's
Day received national recognition on May 9, 1914. On
that day, President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint
resolution of Congress recommending that Congress and
the executive departments of the federal government
observe Mother's Day. The next year, President Wilson
was authorized to proclaim Mother's Day an annual
national observance. Uhler, Sharron G. "Mother's
Day." World Book Online
Reference Center. 2004. World
Book, Inc. 11 Apr. 2004. http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar373460.