Things You May Not Know About Mother's Day

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E veryone knows that Mother’s Day is celebrated every year on the Second Sunday in May, which started in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson designated it as the official day to celebrate all

mothers. But did you known that it was Anna Jarvis who campaigned and rallied for an official holiday to honor all mothers? Although she was never a mother herself, she proclaimed herself to be the official Mother of Mother’s Day. Everything she wrote or signed was signed, “The Mother of Mother’s Day.”

Second, did you know that Mother’s Day started as an anti-war movement by Julia Ward Howe? Howe is better known for writing the “Battle Hymn of Republic,” but she wanted to promote global peace by organizing Mother’s Day rallies after the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War, because too many mothers had lost their sons to senseless wars.

Did you know that a former football coach by the name of Frank Hering also campaigned for a Mother’s Day and was accused of trying to “kidnap” Mother’s Day? Jarvis did not like the idea of Mother’s Day having a “father” so she blasted him in a statement titled, “Kidnapping Mother’s Day: Will You Be an Accomplice?” Hering lost the fight.

Woodrow Wilson was not the only President to put a stamp on Mother’s Day. President Franklin D. Roosevelt also put his stamp on Mother’s Day. He designed a 1934 postage stamp to commemorate the day. However, Jarvis did not approve the design and refused to allow the words “Mother’s Day” to appear on it. FDR surrounded the design and settled for words that read: “In Memory and in Honor of the Mothers of America.”

Jarvis did not want Mother’s Day to become a commercialized celebration. All she wanted was to have children honor their mothers for the love given to them. She lost everything in her fight to protect her holiday. Mother’s Day is second to Christmas in spending on gifts. In 2017, it was estimated that consumers spent $23 billion in gifts and $36 billion in 2018 on gifts for mothers (National Geographic, 2018). What can we say, but we love our Mothers. Happy Mother’s Day!

Dr. Precious

Second’s Gazette