Mother's Day

Mother's Day was brought about because of one woman's determination to honor her Mother back in 1907. Anna M. Jarvis asked the preacher to speak in her mother's memory at a church service in West Virginia in May of 1907. At this service, Anna gave 500 white carnations to the attendants. Then, the following year the church bell rang 72 times representing each year of the life of her mother. Anna's mother had organized Mother's Work Clubs in West Virginia towns before the civil war started, and she also organized a Mother's Friendship Day to help with the healing of the past war scars and bad feelings brought on by this terrible war. So, Anna started a campaign to create a formal holiday by writing letters and lobbying congressmen. And West Virginia became the first state to have an official Mother's Day in 1910. Four years later, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother's Day a national holiday in 1914. The actual day was set for the 2nd Sunday in May.

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