Celebrating Mother's Day Since 1908: Anna Marie Jarvis

We’ve been celebrating Mother’s Day since 1908, thanks to Anna Marie Jarvis. Even if she did go a little bonkers in the end, we are most grateful for her lesson in perseverance and undying love for her mother, Ann Jarvis.

Madame Georges Charpentier by Renoir, 1878. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Mother’s Day: Did (Or Does) Your Mother Have A Secret?

Hula Mom.

We’re celebrating my mother’s secret with you this week. It was probably a big one. Just look at the photos. What was she doing? Back bends in high heels? Dancing in short pants with a female partner? A grass skirt on a New York rooftop? Seriously, who was she?
If anyone out there can answer these questions, please do so. And if you too had or have a mother with an interesting secret or just a tidbit, please share it with us.

Mother Back bends.

Mother’s Day Begins In Victorian Era

In the 19th century, Ann Jarvis was a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and was concerned with the infant mortality rate. Only four of her thirteen children survived to adulthood, so she was all too familiar with the issue. As a result, she started Mother’s Day Work Clubs to help mothers work together to combat problems associated with infant mortality.

Anna Marie Jarvis. Victorian Era. Image: Olairian

White Carnation.

Ann Jarvis died in 1905. Her bereaved daughter, Anna Marie Jarvis, fought for several years to establish the first celebration of Mother’s Day in 1908 to commemorate her mother’s death.
Her holiday, held on the second Sunday of May, quickly gained support across the United States. She campaigned for an official celebration of Mother’s Day.
Her dream was granted in 1908. She made the white carnation, her mother’s favorite flower, the symbol of the new holiday. (Check out our post on Striped Carnations To Frowny Faces.)

Ann Marie Jarvis Did Not Love Hallmark

Jarvis soon became angered by the commercialization of her holiday and resented the profit gained by companies like Hallmark. She was so embittered by what she considered a misrepresentation of her dream, that she tried to have Mother’s Day rescinded by organizing boycotts and threatening lawsuits.

Striped Carnation.

Ann Marie Jarvis Went Bonkers

In 1923, she crashed a candymakers’ convention in Philadelphia. In 1925, she protested a confab of the American War Mothers, which raised money by selling carnations and was arrested for disturbing the peace.
In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected her proposal to make an official holiday, joking that they would have also to proclaim a “Mother-in-law’s Day.”

Anna Marie Jarvis Wins and Loses

In spite of her protests, Anna Marie Jarvis’ holiday was embraced by the United States as well as other countries and it is now celebrated all over the world.

Nellie Bly Around The World Game.

Striped Carnation.

Peach Carnation.

Mother’s Day: Nellie Bly’s Mother

Nellie Bly’s mother, Mary Jane Cochran, was both an inspiration and a stabilizing force to her daughter. Mary Jane even traveled to Mexico in 1886 to chaperone her daughter who wanted to prove her steel as a foreign correspondent.
No doubt, Nellie Bly’s mother spent many sleepless nights worrying about her wild child, particularly when she raced around the world in 80 days..