The History of Mother's Day

How Mother's Day all got started may interest you...

This year Mother's Day will be celebrated on May 13th. Every year this celebration of mothers takes place on the second Sunday of May. If you don't live near your Mom, it's traditional to give her a call, but don't be surprised if you can't get through right away, because more phone calls are placed on Mother's Day than any other day of the year.

The tradition of this holiday seems to have stemmed from an English celebration in the 1600's honoring the mothers of England called, "Mothering Sunday." Employees were given the day off to visit their mothers, and many people gave their mothers a special treat called a "Mothering Cake." With Christianity came a different celebration called "Mother Church," which honored the spiritual protection from the church. This holiday eventually combined with "Mothering Sunday" to form one day of celebration.

In 1872, a Boston poet and suffragist named Julia Ward Howe organized "Mother's Day" meetings in an attempt to create a day for peace. You're probably more familiar with her for the song lyrics she wrote for the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

In 1907, a woman from Philadelphia, named Ana Jarvis, started a campaign for National Mother's Day to be held on the second day of May in honor of her mother. Her mother, also named Ana, died two years earlier in 1905. She gave her daughter the idea after she organized a "Mother's Friendship Day" to heal lingering emotional wounds of the Civil War.