The roots of Mothers Day: May 10, 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia

Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother, Ann Jarvis, on May 10th, 100 years ago.

Her mother "worked very hard to provide nursing care and promote better sanitation, which helped save thousands of lives on both sides of the conflict. After the war, she continued her work to help heal the wounds of the war years and bring families and communities together again."

In 1914, President Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day "as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honour of those mothers whose sons had died in war."

"Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become."

Here is Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation of 1870, inspired by Ann Jarvis:

"From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace..."


These were my sources:

http://www.wvablue.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2218
http://www.mothersdayshrine.com/history.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_day