History of Mother's Day
Though others
have been given formal credit for the founding of Mother's Day, history shows
that Julia Ward Howe of Boston was an early originator of the idea of
celebrating a day focused on mothers. Born in New York City in 1819, Mrs. Howe
was a published poet, author, and advocate of better treatment for the
disabled, insane and the criminal.
Julia Ward Howe's concept of Mother's Day was
considerably different from today's celebration. Acutely aware of the losses of
women and the nation suffered during the Civil War, and distressed by the
carnage of the Franco- Prussian War, Julia Ward Howe conceived of the day as a
time when everyone should dedicate themselves anew to the task of bringing
about world peace. In her "Reminiscences," she describes how the
question carne to her: "Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in
these matters, to prevent the waste of human life which they alone bear and
know the cost?"
In September 1870, she sent out "An
Appeal to Womanhood throughout the World," calling for an international
gathering of women to consider their roles in stopping war. Her next step was
to call a meeting in New York in December of the same year - "a World's
Congress of women in behalf of international peace." More meetings
followed and Julia Ward Howe became president of the American Branch of the
Women's International Peace Association. She continued to try to understand why
women had been ineffective in trying to restrict warfare. Realizing that the
changes for ending war had to be fundamental, she wrote, "Let the fact of
human brotherhood be taught to the babe in his cradle, let it be taught to the
despot on his throne. Let it be the basis and foundation of education and
legislation, the bond of high and low, of rich and poor..."
She spoke on peace in many cities and in 1887
went to England to spread her message there, but was unable to organize a
Women's Peace Congress. This disappointment led to another idea: "a
festival, a day which would be called Mother's Day, and be devoted to the
advocacy of peace doctrines." She chose the second day of June and
observed this day with her followers until her death in 1910. She often urged
the newspapers to publish articles about how to bring lasting peace and wrote
many such articles herself over the years.
The last formal observance of her Mother's
Peace Day was held in Riverton, New Jersey on June 1, 1912, by the Pennsylvania
Peace Society in conjunction with the Universal Peace Union. The printed
invitation to this event read: "Thirty-nine years ago Julia Ward Howe
instituted this festival for peace - a time for women and children to come
together, to meet in the country, invite the public, and recite, speak, sing
and pray for "those things that make for peace."
Parallel
efforts to establish a regular observance in honor of mothers were being made
by several other people including Mary Towles Sassen, a Kentucky school teacher
who started conducting Mother's Day celebrations in 1887; Frank Hering of South
Bend, Indiana, who launched a campaign for the observance of Mother's Day in
1904. Also in 1904, Anna Jarvis, who is regularly credited as the founder of
the celebration, 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.
In 1914, on
May 9, President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution of Congress
recommending that Congress and the executive departments observe Mother's Day.
The next year, the President was authorized to proclaim Mother's Day as an
annual observance. In 1985, Senator John Kerry submitted a resolution to
Congress to call the holiday "Mother's Peace Day." The Kerry
resolution states in part:
Whereas world peace is an urgent goal of the
United States and the American people; and Whereas a day in honor of world
peace and of the special role mothers have had in seeking peace throughout
human history will help bring about renewed public thinking about the important
issues of peace, motherhood, and the family: Now therefore be it Resolved by
the Senate and House hereby designated as "Mother's Peace Day."
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