Mother’s Day has long been a celebrated holiday in the United States, however, its storied past is often overlooked. Today, we look at the past and present traditions leading up to the holiday that honors motherhood.
Ancient Times
Long before husbands and sons scoured stores for flowers and Hallmark cards, the ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals to honor their mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. While those celebrations are believed to be the first precursor to Mother’s Day, a 16th century English celebration is widely accepted as the true antecedent to the modern Mother’s Day many Americans observe today.
Mothering Sunday
“Mothering Sunday,” as it was called back then, was a holiday celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent in the United Kingdom. The faithful would return to the “mother church” in their hometown for a service to honor the Virgin Mary, according to History.com. Over time, Mothering Sunday became more of an informal holiday with children often presenting flowers and gifts to their mothers.
“The Mother of Mother’s Day”
Although there were other notable Mother’s Day efforts in the United States beforehand, the official holiday was forged from the efforts of West Virginia native Anna Jarvis. Anna was the daughter of Ann Jarvis, an activist and social worker who worked to create more sanitary communities. Following her mother’s death in 1905, Anna formulated the concept of Mother’s Day as a holiday to honor all American mothers and their contributions to their children and their country.
In May of 1908, Jarvis organized the first Mother’s Day celebration at a church in West Virginia, and shortly after, coordinated a huge letter writing campaign to publications and politicians as part of a PR campaign to build support for a nationwide holiday honoring mothers. After three years of hard work and persistence, Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every American state, and finally, on May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution that designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
Of course it did not take long for florists and retailers to commercialize the holiday. Interestingly enough, only a few years after the establishment of Mother’s Day, Jarvis began to feel disgusted by the companies who were exploiting the holiday to turn a profit. By the time she died in 1948, Jarvis admitted she regretted fighting for the holiday altogether.
Modern Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day has since evolved into a holiday recognized by dozens of countries all over the globe. In America, it has become one of the most commercialized national holidays. According to Yahoo!, four out of 10 people will buy flowers for a mother or woman in their life this weekend, and 85 million moms will receive 140 million cards this weekend.
Click HERE to see our special Mother’s Day guide.
