Anna Marie Jarvis is credited as
the founder of Mother's Day. Her own mother expressed a wish
for a day to honor mothers after a Sunday School lesson on
mothers of the Bible when Anna Marie was 12. This inspired
her to take up her mother's cause after her mother's death in
1905.
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| photo credit: Michael Drummond |
Anna Marie Jarvis
Jarvis was born in West
Virginia May 1, 1864. She was the ninth of 11 children born
to Ann Marie Reeves and Granville Jarvis. Her mother was a
teacher, and Jarvis became a teacher as well. She never had
children.
Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis
Jarvis' mother's work with
women's organizations inspired the creation of mother's day. The
elder Reeves Jarvis organized a series of Mother's Day Work
Clubs in their area to improve health and sanitary conditions.
The clubs raised money and hired women to help families in
which the mothers had tuberculosis. Doctors later got on board
with the idea and it spread to other towns. During the Civil
War, the mothers' group helped clothe and feed the soldiers.
In spite of her work helping other mothers, eight of Reeves
Jarvis' own children died in childhood.
Mother's Day
Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis died
on May 9, 1905. Daughter Anna led a small tribute to her
mother at Andrews Methodist Church on May 12, 1907, and
dedicated her life to establishing a nationally recognized
Mother's Day. The first official Mother's Day ceremony was in
Philadelphia on May 10, 1908. Six years later, President
Woodrow Wilson signed a Congressional Resolution setting aside
Mother's Day as a national holiday to be celebrated on the
second Sunday in May.
