05/11/2025
id you know that Mother’s Day started as an anti-war movement? Anna Jarvis is most often credited with founding Mother’s Day in the United States. Designated as the second Sunday in May by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914, aspects of that holiday have since spread overseas, sometimes mingling with local traditions.
The official Mother’s Day holiday arose in the 1900s due to the efforts of Anna Jarvis, daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Following her mother’s 1905 death, Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother’s Day to honor the sacrifices mothers made for their children.
The origins of Mother’s Day as celebrated in the United States date back to the 19th century. In the years before the Civil War, Ann Reeves Jarvis (mother) of West Virginia helped start “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” to teach local women how to care for their children properly. These clubs later became a unifying force in a region of the country still divided over the Civil War. In 1868 Jarvis organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day,” where mothers gathered with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation.
Today, we celebrate Mother’s Day with cards, gifts, and flowers to show how amazing and special moms really are.
