Mother’s Day

1. Mother’s Day The History of Mother's Day Mother's Day The Origins of Mother's Day About us.

2. The History of Mother's Day • We all know that Mother's Day is a time to honor Motherhood and show appreciation to mom for all her hard work and sacrifice - but what are the origins of this celebration? As with many holidays and special occasions, the history of Mother's Day is based on many traditions, both ancient and modern, and is celebrated in many incarnations around the world. • Although traditionally the western world celebrates Mother's Day, the concept is now gaining popularity around the globe. African countries, for example, borrowed the concept from Great Britain, where Mothering Sunday has been celebrated for hundreds of years on the fourth Sunday of Lent. In East Asia Mother's Day is heavily marketed as a commercial holiday based on Mother's Day in the U.S. • Many historians believe some aspects of the modern version of Mother's Day stem from the ancient Greek festival of mother worship in which Cybele, the great mother of the gods, and Rhea, the wife of Cronus, are honored. This festival occurred between March 15 and March 18. • The modern inception of Mother's Day in the west, however, has more recent roots than those of ancient Greece. In the late 19th century Julia Ward Howe attempted to establish a sort of Mother's Day for Peace, as she wanted the day to call for disarmament and the resolution of conflict between human beings. Her idea was based on the work of Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, who in 1858 established Mothers' Work Days as a means to improve sanitation for both sides during the Civil War. • Anna Jarvis' daughter, also called Anna, took these ideas a step further by working towards the creation of a memorial day for women after her mother died. This first "Mother's Day" was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia on May 10, 1908 in a local church. In fact, today this is where you can find the International Mother's Day Shrine. The custom caught on soon after that and spread to 45 other states. Beginning in 1912 the special day was declared an official holiday in several states. In 1914 the President, Woodrow Wilson, announced the first national celebration of Mother's day. Back

3. Mother's Day • Anna Jarvis, born in 1864 in Webster, West Virginia, is credited as the force behind the official Mother's Day observance. When Jarvis was 41, her mother died. On the second anniversary of her mother's death (the second Sunday in May 1908), Jarvis made public her plans to establish a day to honor mothers. The observance became official in 1914. • The aspiration of Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis and her daughter, Anna Jarvis, was to establish a national memorial day dedicated to all mothers, both alive and deceased. After her mother's death in 1905, Anna Jarvis was relentless in achieving this goal.  Jarvis was successful in getting West Virginia Governor Glassock to proclaim a statewide Mother's Day in 1910. Four years later, President Woodrow Wilson signed into law a U.S. House of Representatives resolution, introduced at Jarvis' request, making the second Sunday in May the national Mother's Day. Mother's Day has since become an international holiday, celebrated in over 100 countries. • Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis and her family lived in Taylor County in the mid-1800s. Stories about her many good deeds and leadership qualities had become part of the local folklore by the time of her death. She and her brother, a doctor, had formed the Mothers Day Friendship Clubs to work with women to prevent the deaths of children by teaching sanitation methods. They explained to mothers the importance of boiling water, how to keep food from spoiling, and other antiseptic methods. • Jarvis and the women who joined these Mothers Day Friendship Clubs refused to take sides during the Civil War. Instead they provided nursing services and taught sanitation methods which helped save thousands of soldiers' lives on both sides, North and South. After the war, Jarvis was tireless in promoting peace and good will among neighbors who may have differed politically. She conceived a family day picnic honoring mothers, called Mothers Friendship Day; its real goal, however, was to reunite alienated neighbors. Following a prayer, the band began to play "Should Auld Acquaintances Be Forgot." By the time they reached the word "forgot," neighbors were weeping and shaking hands. • Anna Jarvis held a memorial service for her mother in 1907, and all mothers the next year. Services were held at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, which is now the International Mothers Day Shrine. Anna Jarvis' birthplace, where the Jarvis family lived from 1854 to 1864, is now a museum. Back

4. The Origins of Mother's Day • Motherhood has always been celebrated. In prehistoric tribes the mother Goddess was worshiped as the creator of life. Female goddess figures are found in many archeological digs. In Egypt, Isis was the Queen of Heaven who ruled over all matters concerning mothering. In ancient Greece Rhea was revered as the mother goddess and in ancient Rome it was Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus, and another mother goddess known as Cybele. Most mothering festivals in early history were in the springtime to celebrate the rebirth of the land and the beginning of the most fertile time of the year. These festivities honored the goddess in all women. • The modern version of Mother's Day with families bringing flowers and gifts to their moms can be traced back to seventeenth century England. Mothering Sunday was the fourth Sunday in Lent...a special day when all the strict rules about fasting and penance were put aside. Older children who were away from home learning a trade or working as servants were allowed to return home for Mothering Sunday. The family gathered for a mid-Lenten feast with Mother as the special guest. Along with a rare visit from her children, mothers were given treats of cakes and wildflower bouquets. While ‘Mothering Sunday’ is still celebrated, most now know it as Mother’s Day. • The history of Mother's Day in the rest of the world is a bit different. In the USA, the early English settlers often disapproved of the more secular holidays and the Mothering Sunday tradition never really took hold. Early attempts to have a day to honor mother's were mixed with woman's suffrage and peace movements and were not very popular. • Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, suggested the idea of an International Mother's day to celebrate peace and motherhood in 1872. There were many other women who were active with local groups holding annual Mother's Day remembrances, but most were more religious gatherings and not the holiday that we know today. • One of the women, who was working on establishing Mother's Day as a national celebration was the mother of Anna Jarvis. Mrs. Jarvis held an annual gathering, Mother’s Friendship Day, to heal the pain of the Civil War. After she died in 1905, Anna campaigned for the establishment of an official Mother’s Day to commemorate her mother. • "Miss Anna Jarvis was as good as her word. She devoted her entire life to the struggle to have Mother's Day declared a national holiday. In the spring of 1908, Anna wrote to the Superintendent of Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where her mother had taught Sunday School classes for over 20 years. She requested that a Mother's Day service be held in honor of her mother. Thus, the first official Mother's Day celebration was held at Andrew's Methodist Church on May 10, 1908, with 407 persons in attendance. Anna Jarvis sent 500 white carnations to the church in Grafton. One was to be worn by each son and daughter and two by each mother in attendance. Another service was held in Philadelphia later that afternoon where Anna resided with her brother. Anna had requested that the first official service be held in Grafton, where the Jarvis family had lived so much of their lives and where her mother had served for so long as a teacher and public servant." ( Mother's Day Shrine.org) • Anna Jarvis' campaign is the reason we have a formal holiday. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared that Mother’s Day should be celebrated as a national holiday on the second Sunday in May. • It didn't take very long for Mother's Day to change from a semi-religious occasion of prayers for peace and appreciation of the work and love of mothers around the world to a gifts, flowers, candy and dining out extravaganza. Anna Jarvis was actually arrested at a Mother’s Day festival while trying to stop women from selling flowers. Jarvis said “I wanted it to be a day of sentiment not profit.” • Mother's Day may not have turned out to be the holiday that Julia Ward Howe, Anna Jarvis and countless other women around the world imagined, but it is a celebration of mothers...dedicated to honoring the women who give so much to their families without asking for anything in return. Perhaps every day should be Mother's Day, but most families are too busy with everyday business to say thank you for every meal or every good night kiss. • Once every year, the world stops being busy and says thank you. Flowers, cards and gifts are just the outward signs. What mothers love most is the fact that their families really do notice all that they do and for one day every mom is queen for a day... Back

5. About us • We are 8 members work on this project. We are: • Priota • Fahima • Toma • Rabbi • Saleh Rabbi • Panna • Bulbul • Zubair