Mother's Day Sunday May 12, 2019
The beginning of celebrating Mothers goes back to the 17th Century in Britain to take gifts to their earthly mothers but then died out in the 18th Century. 1858 in West Virginia was the earliest Mother’s Day celebrated. Then a few other celebrations appeared such as Mother’s Work Day to improve sanitary condition during the Civil War. Later, Mother’s Day for Peace to honor peace and womanhood was celebrated. Most of these celebrations died out in a few years.
In 1908 Anna Jarvis wanted to honor mothers after her own mother died, so at the St. Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, her own mother’s church, they celebrated a Sunday service honoring all mothers. This idea was sent to the United States Senate proposing the day but did not pass even though it was held in 46 states the next year. Seven years later it finally passed in the Senate and designated the 2nd Sunday in May as Mother’s Day and President Wilson proclaimed it as a national holiday. Ann Jarvis was against commercialization and had many court battles with the Florist Industry. She died penniless and her nursing home bill was paid for by the Florist Exchange which she never knew.