"Mother's Day" Origins
The woman credited with founding Mother's Day is Anna Jarvis. The
When the Civil War broke out she called together four of her clubs and asked
them to make a pledge that friendship and good will would not be a casualty of
the war. In a remarkable display of courage and compassion, the women nursed
soldiers from both sides and saved many lives from both sides.
As if that weren't enough, Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis became a genuine peace
maker after the war. The wounds and animosity between families who fought on
either side were deep and harsh. Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis organized
"Mothers' Friendship Days" to bring together families across the
Mason Dixon line.
Anna Jarvis was born in 1850 and was an impressionable child and teenager when
her mother was at the peak of her courageous work. The younger Anna Jarvis was
only twelve years old in 1878 when she listened to her mother teach a Sunday
school lesson on mothers in the Bible. "I hope and pray that someone,
sometime, will found a memorial mother's day," the senior Jarvis said, "There
are many days for men, but none for mothers."
So in 1907, two years after her mother's death, she organized the first
"mother's day" in
The custom spread to churches in 45 states and in
Mother's Day has endured.
Anna Jarvis, the woman who gave us Mother's Day, never married and never became
a mother herself, although she received Mother's Day cards from around the
world every year.
Another one of the earliest promoters of the idea of Mother's Day was Julia
Ward Howe. She is most famous as the author of the
She began organizing what she called "Mothers' Peace Day"
festivals which were celebrated annually on June 2nd. Her basic conviction was
that though the world may be divided by war and conflict, there is something in
the experience of childbirth binding the mothers of the world together into one
family.
The struggle to gain voting rights for women, the cause of peace among
the nations of the world, the fight against poverty and the abuse of children,
these were the central concerns of those who established Mother's Day.
SOMEBODY'S
MOTHER
by Mary Dow Brine
The woman was old and ragged and gray
And bent with the chill of the winter's day.
The street was wet with recent snow,
And the woman's feet were aged and slow.
She stood at the crossing and waited long
Alone, uncared for amid the throng,
Of human beings who passed her by
None heeded the glance of her anxious eye.
Down the street with laughter and shout,
Glad in the freedom of "school let out"
Came the boys like a flock of sheep
Hailing the snow piles white and deep.
Past the woman so old and gray,
Hastened the children on their way.
Nor offered a helping hand to her,
So meek, so timid, afraid to stir,
Lest the carriage wheels or the horses' feet
Should crowd her down in the slippery street.
At last came one of the merry troop
The gayest laddie of all the group;
He paused beside her and whispered low,
"I'll help you across if you wish to go."
Her aged hand on his young strong arm
She placed, and so, without hurt or harm,
He guided her trembling feet along,
Proud that his own were firm and strong.
Then back again to his friends he went,
His young heart happy and so content.
"She's somebody's mother, Boys, you know,
For all she's aged and poor and slow;
"And I hope some fellow will lend a hand
To my dear mother, you understand,
If ever she's poor and old and gray
When her own dear boy is far away."
And "somebody's mother" bowed low her head
In her home that night, and the prayer she said
Was, "God be kind to the noble boy
Who is somebody's son, and pride, and joy."
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