A short history of Mother's Day

May 5, 1:14 AMDenver Dining ExaminerStan Dyer

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Honor your mother.

Do you ever wonder about the history of Mother’s Day?  Many scholars like to link it back to the ancient Egyptians, Phrygians, Romans and Greeks, but, even though many mothers would like to be thought of as Gods, all of the ancient celebrations centered more around the Mothers of Gods, and not the individual mothers of populations.  In Europe, “Mothering Day” developed to honor the family matron, but that was largely abandoned in America when immigrants began crossing the pond.  The real source of the modern Mother’s Day holiday in this country actually has roots in the American Civil War. 

In 1870, Julia Ward Howe, the woman who penned the Battle Hymn of the Republic in 1858, wanted American mothers to come together to protest the killing of their sons at war.  During the American Civil War, much of the fighting was brother against brother, and many American mothers suffered greatly from their losses.  Julia Ward Howe sought the creation of an international day of peace and motherhood to be known as “Mother’s Day” to protest the carnage.  Her proclamation began:

     “Arise, then, women of this day

      Arise all women who have hearts,

      Whether your baptism be by water or by tears

      Say firmly:

      “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant

      agencies,

      Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage,

      for caresses and applause.

      Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn

      All that we have been able to teach them of

      harity, mercy and patience...”

The proclamation continues, and goes on to denounce the horrors of war, the stupidity that makes men fight each other to the death, and the pain caused which is felt most deeply by the mothers of warring nations. 

As a result of her efforts, June 2nd was designated as Mother’s Day and by 1873, women in 18 American cities celebrated this new Mother’s holiday.  Without funding, however, most of these celebrations died out except in Boston where the tradition continued for 10 more years.  Despite the original failure, the seeds were planted that would flower again.

In 1908, upon the death of her mother, Anna Jarvis picked up the standard and moved forward.  She petitioned for the holiday at the church where her mother taught Sunday school, and, on May 10, 1908, Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia celebrated the first Modern Mother’s Day with a special mass and honored all mothers in attendance with white carnations, Jarvis’ mother’s favorite flower.

That same year, Senator Elmer Burkett of Nebraska proposed making Mother’s Day a National Holiday, but his measure was defeated.  Yet, by 1909, 46 states were holding unofficial Mother’s Day services.  In 1912, West Virginia was first to make Mother’s Day an official State holiday, and Woodrow Wilson soon followed declaring the second Sunday in May to be Mother’s Day beginning in 1914.

For a long time, there was a fight to limit the commercialization of the holiday, but that is the way Americans celebrate holidays and the fight was a losing battle almost from the start.  Today, Mother’s Day traditions include gifts of cards, presents, flowers and a special dinner.  Carnations are still the preferred flowers except that now white flowers are to honor mothers who have passed away, while red and pink are to honor mothers still living.  Roses of all colors, especially in arrangements, are always perfect. Traditional gifts are perfumes and jewelry, with the preferred meal of honor being the Sunday Brunch. 

However you choose to celebrate Mother’s Day is not as important as the thought behind the holiday.  It is a time not only to recognize mothers for their contributions to our lives and our communities, but also to call for world peace, and we can always use a little more world peace.