Mother's Day (North America)
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| Mother's Day | |
 Examples of handmade Mother's Day gifts. |
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| Observed by | United States, Mexico, Canada and Australia |
|---|---|
| Date | Second Sunday in May |
| 2008 date | May 11 |
| 2009 date | May 10 |
| 2010 date | May 9 |
| Related to | Father's Day, Parents' Day |
Mother's Day is an annual holiday that recognizes mothers, motherhood and maternal bonds in general, as well the positive contributions that they make to society. In Canada and the United States, it is celebrated on the second Sunday in May; In Mexico Mother's Day is a fixed holiday, occurring on May 10th.
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[edit] History
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This section may not provide balanced geographical coverage on North America. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
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[edit] Canada
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This section requires expansion. |
The Mother's Day holiday, like St. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Father's Day and Halloween, is traditionally observed in Canada.[citation needed] In almost all features, it is identical to the American version of Mother's Day.
[edit] Mexico
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This section requires expansion. |
"Día de las Madres" is an unofficial holiday in Mexico held each year on May 10th.[1]
[edit] United States
Early "Mother's Day" was mostly marked by women's peace groups.[1] A common early activity was the meeting of groups of mothers whose sons had fought or died on opposite sides of the American Civil War.
In 1868 Ann Jarvis created a committee to establish a "Mother's Friendship Day" whose purpose was "to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War", and she wanted to expand it into an annual memorial for mothers, but she died in 1905 before the celebration became popular.[2]
In New York City, Julia Ward Howe led a "Mother's Day" anti-war observance in 1872[1][3], which was accompanied by a Mother's Day Proclamation. The observance continued in Boston for about 10 years under Howe's personal sponsorship, then died out.[4]
Several years later, a Mother's Day observance on May 13, 1877 was held in Albion, Michigan, over a dispute related to the temperance movement.[5] According to local legend, Albion pioneer, Juliet Calhoun Blakeley, stepped up to complete the sermon of the Rev. Myron Daughterty, who was distraught because an anti-temperance group had forced his son and two other temperance advocates to spend the night in a saloon and become publicly drunk. In the pulpit, Blakeley called on other mothers to join her. Blakeley's two sons, both traveling salesmen, were so moved that they vowed to return each year to pay tribute to her and embarked on a campaign to urge their business contacts to do likewise. At their urging, in the early 1880s, the Methodist Episcopal Church in Albion set aside the second Sunday in May to recognize the special contributions of mothers.
Frank E. Hering, President of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, made the first known public plea for "a national day to honor our mothers" in 1904. [6][7]
In its present form, Mother's Day was established by Anna Marie Jarvis, following the death of her mother on May 9, 1905; she made the first official celebration in 1908 and then she campaigned to establish Mother's Day as a U.S. national holiday, and later as an international holiday.[1]
Originally the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of the original Mother's Day commemoration, where Anna handed out carnations, the International Mother's Day Shrine is now a National Historic Landmark. From there, the custom caught on—spreading eventually to 46 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states as early as 1912, beginning with West Virginia. On May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. [8][9] On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made that proclamation, declaring the first national Mother's Day, [10][8] as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war. [8]
Carnations have come to represent Mother's Day, since they were delivered at one of its first celebrations by its founder. [10] This also started the custom of wearing a carnation on Mother's Day. [6] The founder, Anna Jarvis, chose the carnation because it was the favorite flower of her mother.[11] In part due to the shortage of white carnations, and in part due to the efforts to expand the sales of more types of flowers in Mother's Day, the florists promoted wearing a red carnation if your mother was living, or a white one if she was dead; this was tirelessly promoted until it made its way into the popular observations at churches.[12][6]
In May 2008, the US House of Representatives voted twice on a resolution commemorating Mother's Day[13][14], the first one being unanimous so that all congressmen would be on record showing support for Mother's Day.[citation needed]
[edit] Related events
In the United States, "Mother's Day Work Clubs" were organized by Anna Jarvis's mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis (1832-1905), to improve sanitation and health in the area. These clubs also assisted both Union and Confederate encampments controlling a typhoid outbreak, and conducted a "Mothers' Friendship Day" to reconcile families divided by the Civil War.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d The History of Mother's Day from The Legacy Project, a Legacy Center (Canada) website
- ^ Larossa, 1997, pag 172
- ^ The First Anniversary of 'Mother's Day'", The New York Times, June 3, 1874, p. 8: "'Mother's Day,' which was inaugurated in this city on the 2nd of June, 1872, by Mrs. Julia Ward Howards[sic], was celebrated last night at Plimpton Hall by a mother's peace meeting..."
- ^ Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day for Peace, about.com
- ^ Mother's Day from "Albion's Historical Markers", maintained by an Albion, Michigan business
- ^ a b c "Annie's "Mother's Day" History Page". http://www.annieshomepage.com/mothershistory.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-26.
- ^ "Fraternal Order of Eagles: The History of Mother's Day". http://www.foe.com/about-us/mothers-day.aspx. Retrieved on 2008-01-26.
- ^ a b c Rice, Susan Tracey and Robert Haven Schauffler. Mother's day: its history, origin, celebration, spirit, and significance as related in prose and verse. pp. 4-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=pkAOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA4. "in 1914 Congress passed a law, which Wilson signed on May 8, 1914, 'designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day', and authorizing and requesting that Wilson issue a proclamation 'calling upon the government officials to display the United States flag on all buildings, and the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.'"
- ^ 71 - Mother's Day Proclamation, Franklin D. Roosevelt, May 3, 1934.
- ^ a b Today in History: May 9 Library of Congress
- ^ Leigh, 1997, pag. 260
- ^ Leigh, 1997, pag. 274
- ^ House Vote #274 (May 7, 2008) H. Res. 1113: Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day (Vote On Passage)
- ^ House Vote #275 (May 7, 2008) Table Motion to Reconsider: H RES 1113 Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother’s Day
- LAROSSA, Ralph (1997). University of Chicago Press. ed. The Modernization of Fatherhood: A Social and Political History (illustrated ed.). p. 90,170-192. ISBN 0226469042. http://books.google.com/books?id=rkkIKQVu26cC&pg=PA90-IA3&vq=mother's+day&dq=%22Ann+Jarvis%22+OR+%22Anna+Jarvis%22+%22mother's+day%22.
- LEIGH Eric Schmidt (1997). Princeton University Press. ed. Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays (reprint, illustrated ed.). pp. 256-275. ISBN 0691017212. http://books.google.com/books?id=maF8mTPsJqsC.
[edit] External links
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Wikinews has related news: Mothers around the world on Mother's Day |
