Moms are the one of biggest celebratory points in many people’s lives. In fact, people often attribute their success and achievement to moms.
Regardless of societal and cultural differences, the sacrifice and love given by dedicated moms are universal. It is only sensible that every mom should be honored by commemorating a day, especially for her.
As in every celebration or festival, it helps to understand the tradition behind it so that we can comprehend the celebration better. Mother’s Day history goes a long way back.
The origin of Mother’s day in the USA began quite differently from the United Kingdom, though they were loosely related. “Mothering Sunday” was a celebration to honor moms in England. In time, the celebration blended in with the tradition to honor churches. However, this tradition slowly ceased as the English settlers moved into the States and had little time to keep up with the celebration.
Another reason the celebration ceased was because the early English settlers had reservations about secular holidays.
In 1872, Julia Ward Howe came up with the idea of International Mother’s Day. She is the author of the words to the Battle Hymn of Republic and her main objective was to celebrate peace.
Another name associated with the current Mother’s Day celebration is Anna Jarvis. She worked hard to establish the event as a national celebration and she also took the initiative to organize an annual gathering titled “Mother’s Friendship Day”.
This gathering had the objective of bringing healing to Civil War victims. In 1905, Anna’s mom passed away. She then began a campaign to officially establish Mother’s Day in tribute to her mom.
Mother’s Day history eventually gained recognition and grew popular thanks to Anna. She devoted almost her whole life to ensuring that Mother’s Day was declared a national holiday. In 1908, she wrote a letter to urge a church superintendent to hold a Mother’s Day service in honor of her mom.
Her mom has been teaching at the church for over 20 years and she felt that her mom deserved that honor. In fact, Anna deserved to be given credit for her dedication towards her mom and all mothers in general. This was the story behind the origin of Mother’s day in the USA.
