The modern celebration of Mother’s Day is often dismissed as a marketing invention by the greeting card industry. However, the holiday’s origins are far more complex, rooted in a 42-year struggle involving five distinct visionaries and one pivotal campaigner. While President Woodrow Wilson officially declared it a national holiday in 1914, the path to that recognition was paved with ideological clashes, personal rivalries, and a fierce battle over what it means to honor motherhood.
The Early Visionaries: Peace, Temperance, and Education
Long before the first carnations were sold, several individuals attempted to institutionalize a day for mothers, each with a specific social agenda.
Julia Ward Howe: The Peacemaker
In 1872, abolitionist and author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” Julia Ward Howe, proposed “Mother’s Day for Peace.” She chose June 2, aiming to leverage maternal instinct as a force for global stability. Howe argued that mothers, who nurture life, should be the primary advocates against war. Her vision was deeply political:
“The idea was that it goes against a mother’s instinct to want her sons to die [at war]… If anybody is going to fight for peace, it should be mothers.”
This observance was celebrated by pacifist groups for four decades but gradually faded from public consciousness by 1913.
Juliet Calhoun Blakeley: The Temperance Advocate
In Albion, Michigan, pioneer Juliet Calhoun Blakeley sought to align Mother’s Day with the temperance movement in 1877. Blakeley, who was also active in the Underground Railroad, was motivated by a local tragedy where an anti-temperance group forced a reverend’s son to drink under threat of gun violence. She called on mothers to organize against alcohol abuse. While this sparked a local tradition in Michigan, it never gained national traction.
Mary Towles Sasseen: The Educator
In Kentucky, schoolteacher Mary Towles Sasseen advocated for a day to honor mothers, driven by her own profound devotion to her parent. She published a pamphlet outlining her plan, which was adopted by a school system in Springfield, Ohio, in 1894. They celebrated on April 20, Sasseen’s mother’s birthday. Tragically, Sasseen died in childbirth in 1906, seeing no widespread adoption of her idea.
Frank Herring: The Institutionalizer
Frank Herring, a University of Notre Dame football coach and president of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, attempted to formalize the holiday in 1904. He encouraged students to send postcards to their mothers and delivered a speech titled “Our Mothers and Their Importance in Our Lives.” Although he failed to secure national recognition, the Fraternal Order of Eagles still claims him as the founder, and Notre Dame refers to him as the “father of Mother’s Day.”
Anna Jarvis: The Architect of the National Holiday
The modern iteration of Mother’s Day is the result of the relentless efforts of Anna Jarvis. Her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, had founded “Mother’s Day Work Clubs” in the 1850s to improve public health and reduce infant mortality. After Ann Reeves Jarvis died in 1905, Anna launched a massive lobbying campaign to honor her legacy.
By 1907, Jarvis was organizing services in Grafton, West Virginia, and Philadelphia. She aggressively lobbied politicians, merchants, and cultural influencers, including Mark Twain and former presidents. Her strategy was effective: by 1912, every state recognized the holiday, leading to its national establishment in 1914.
The Irony of Success: From Devotion to Distrust
Despite being the primary driver of the holiday’s success, Anna Jarvis became its most vocal critic. She viewed the rapid commercialization of the day as a betrayal of her mother’s memory.
- Copyright Battles: Jarvis incorporated the Mother’s Day International Association and attempted to copyright the name and the white carnation symbol. Merchants circumvented this by using the plural possessive “Mothers’ Day” instead of her singular “Mother’s Day.”
- Hostility Toward Competitors: Jarvis refused to acknowledge earlier proponents like Mary Towles Sasseen, labeling them “Mother’s Day imposters” and refusing to share the spotlight.
- War on Commercialization: She despised greeting cards, the floral industry, and confectioners. She famously crashed a candy convention in Philadelphia to protest the commercialization.
- Rejection of Charity: Jarvis also opposed charities that used Mother’s Day to solicit funds for poor mothers or soldiers’ families, calling them “Christian pirates.” She believed the day should be about personal sentiment, not pity, stating, “No mother could be poor that has her child’s love.”
Conclusion
Anna Jarvis died broke and alone in a sanitarium, bitter that the holiday she created had become a commercial enterprise. Yet, despite her anger at the industry, the core sentiment of Mother’s Day remains aligned with her original intent. It is still, fundamentally, a day dedicated to a “homecoming”—a time to spend with one’s mother, send a card, or share a meal. The drama of its creation serves as a reminder that even the most commercialized traditions often begin with deeply personal and idealistic roots.
