Anna Jarvis: Original Mother’s Day Peace Activist
“A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother — and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment!” ~Anna Jarvis, the woman who campaigned for seven years to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday in the U.S.
Anna Jarvis began celebrating Mother’s Day in 1907, two years after her dearly beloved mother died. On the second Sunday in May, she called together friends and family to commemorate the death of her mother, Ann Maria — a tireless peace activist. Jarvis also asked everyone to wear white carnations, which were her mother’s favorite flower.
A year later, Anna asked the officials of her church in Grafton, West Virginia, if they could set aside a Sunday to honor all mothers. The church agreed. Things snowballed, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s Day a national holiday.
But, only a few years later, Anna Jarvis changed her mind.
Promoting Peace, Not Greeting Cards
Jarvis quickly grew embittered at the way Americans commercialized the holiday she’d worked so hard to found. The original Mother’s Day was centered around Jarvis’s own mother’s social activism and had more to do with protesting war and promoting peace and pacifism than appreciating mothers.
Contrary to the yearly anti-war promotion of peace which Anna Jarvis had envisioned to honor her mother, America became infatuated with buying chocolates, flowers, and greeting cards.
Jarvis, along with her sister, spent her family inheritance campaigning against the holiday. On November 24, 1948, the founder of Mother’s Day died childless, blind, and in poverty.
So, in deference to the wishes of Mrs. Anna Jarvis, here’s a salute to all mothers today, but especially to the mothers whose children have been killed and mamed fighting for natural resources in a foreign country so that Halliburton and ExxonMobil CEOs can turn million dollar salaries, and so that the rest of us can drive an SUV thirty miles to work each day. Your courage and sacrifice is commendable.
Read More: Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, pacifism, peace activist, anti-corporate activism
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May 11th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Hey, very eye-opening and very sad-ending post :(
I am not fond of Mothers Day for the same reasons Anna Jarvis came to hate it…the crass commercialism of it drives me up a wall.
May 12th, 2008 at 5:42 am
Me, too, Dusty. Mothers deserve a holiday and all the appreciation we can give them, but the greeting card industry has set the gift bar so high that unless a mom gets a musical card, Godiva chocolates, a dozen roses, a potted plant, and some diamond jewelry, the gift-giver has “fallen short.”
Luckily, a lot of moms get something that shoots a hole in the corporate-gift-giving brainwashing…a lot of moms get a simple gift from their toddler…a painted handprint or a crayon drawing to put on the desk at work or on the refrigerator…and moms know that those things mean more than all that money can buy. :-)
May 12th, 2008 at 7:04 am
Thanks for the history, Joe.
For some time now, it has seemed to me that the gift giving ritual gets in the way of a direct and full connection to my Mother. She is at an age now, where I feel she has accumulated a bunch of wisdom. I want to hear what it is, so at every get-together like this, I ask her to tell a story about something related to motherhood. How did you meet Dad? What attracted you to each other? How many kids did you want? Where did you “make” me? Tell me the story of the delivery and your impressions in the hospital? Since my Mom is sentimental, she likes telling the stories. We get to hear about tender, young love. We hear about incubators and tears. We hear about my sisters first laundry soap “cake”.
We encourage each other to “bake or make” a gift. These are treasured by Mom and commented on far more than any “store bought” gift…picked up on the way to her house, because there are shining eyes, smiles, laughter and a personal story to share with each one.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Bake or make. I like that. The storytelling activity is a great idea. What used to take place on the front porchers, sitting around snapping beans and shelling peas, is not so common anymore. It’s even a novel idea now, and there’s a great site trying to merge the idea with new technology and bring family storytelling into the 21st century: StoryCorps. Worth checking out, AND listening. I’ve heard a few on NPR, and some of these are better than a good fiction story.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:39 am
“Luckily, a lot of moms get something that shoots a hole in the corporate-gift-giving brainwashing…a lot of moms get a simple gift from their toddler…a painted handprint or a crayon drawing to put on the desk at work or on the refrigerator…and moms know that those things mean more than all that money can buy. :-) ”
I love my mother’s day flowers that my baby gave me. I have to admit though, I have always looked forward to my daughter hand picking me an ugly plastic necklace that she thinks is the most beautiful in the world. I look forward to the day when she picks out that necklace, and I wear it proudly to work.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:40 am
I meant to say the mothers day flowers that Ana MADE for me. There are 4 and each one has a picture of her on it.
May 14th, 2008 at 11:10 am
“I have always looked forward to my daughter hand picking me an ugly plastic necklace…”
Hey, you didn’t seem so happy that time yours truly bought you an ugly plastic necklace ;-) Know what you mean, though.