Who coined the concept of mother’s day? Have you got any idea as to how the famous celebration kicked off, or even where it started? If you would love to know then you are on the right page. In this post, I will be telling you about the person who harvested the whole idea and concept behind mother’s day.
Who Coined the Concept of Mother’s Day
Mother’s day as you should know is a holiday that is used in honoring motherhood. The day is observed in various formats all over the globe, mother’s day 2023 in the United States will take place on Sunday, May 14. The American incarnation of mother’s day as you should know was created by Anna Jarvis back in 1908 and it however became an official holiday in the US in 1908.
Jarvis however from that time would later denounce the commercialization of the holiday and spent the latter part of her life trying to take it off from the calendar. Mother’s day traditionally involves the presentation of flowers, cards, and many other gifts to moms.
And to answer the question as to who coined the concept of mother’s day, here it is. Anne Jarvis turned mother’s day into a national holiday. The official mother’s day holiday came to prominence back in the 1900s as a result of the efforts of Anna Jarvis who is the daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Ann Jarvis following her mother’s death in 1905 conceived of mother’s day as a medium of honoring the sacrifices every mother made for their kids.
And after gaining financial backing from a Philadelphia department store owner who goes by the name of John Wanamaker. She got to organize the very first official mother’s day celebration in May 1908 at a Methodist church in Grafton West Virginia. And on that same day, thousands of people attended a mother’s day event at one of Wanamaker’s retail stores based in Philadelphia.
A Brief History of Mother’s Day
The celebration of motherhood and mothers can be traced back to the ancient Romans and Greeks, who at the time held festivals in the honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. But the clearest modern precedent of mother’s day however is the early Christian festival famously known as Mothering Sunday.
Once known as a major tradition in the united kingdom and many other parts of Europe, this very celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and originally was seen as a time when the faithful would get to return to their “mother church” which is the main church in the vicinity of their homes for a type of special service.
And over time, the tradition of mothering Sunday shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would then present flowers and other forms of appreciation to their mothers. The customer however faded in popularity before merging with the American mother’s day back in the 1930s and 1940s.
The Origin of Mother’s Day
The origin of mother’s day which is celebrated in the United States dates back to the 19th century. And in the years before the civil war, Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia helped to start “mother’s day work clubs” in a bid to teach local women how they could care for their children properly.
The club then went on to become a unifying force in a region of the country that was still divided over the civil war. Jarvis in 1868 organized mother’s friendship day which mother got to gather with the former union and confederate soldiers in a bid to promote reconciliation.
Another precursor of mother’s day came from Julia Ward Howe who is an abolitionist and suffragette. And in 1870, she wrote the “mother’s day proclamation,” which is a call to action asking mothers to unite in the promotion of world peace. Howe in 1873 campaigned for a “Mothers Peace day” to be remembered and celebrated every June 2.
