What Is Mother’s Day? (For the Non-Mother)

If you’re a mother, you really don’t need this question answered. For you, Mother’s Day is formal recognition of the love, labor, and devotion you provide to your family. The reality is that you deserve way more than one day. Now if you’re a non-mother, you might not need this question answered either. But, you know, life happens, and it’s never a bad idea to get a gentle reminder here and there. With that in mind, we’ll go ahead and answer the query. What is Mother’s Day?

 

Ancient History

The concept of recognizing mothers is not a new one. Simple biology would suggest that this is a group worth honoring. Ancient Greeks had an annual spring festival in honor of Rhea, a goddess associated with motherhood and fertility. (She was the mother of Zeus and his siblings.)

A closely related goddess was Cybele, who became known by the Romans as Magna Mater (Great Mother) and was the subject of a similar festival.

Greek and Roman mythology is very confusing, so we won’t delve further, because we can’t. In fact, we’ll just stop pretending we’re cultured and jump to the American story, which thankfully is the dominant one in this case.

 

The American Story

Mother’s Day as we know it is credited to a West Virginian named Anna Jarvis. Jarvis’ mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, was one of several people (the social activist Julia Ward Howe was another) who in the 1800s promoted various activities in the name of mothers.

After the death of her mother in 1905, Anna Jarvis devoted herself to the concept of Mother’s Day, viewing it as a way to honor the sacrifices that all mothers make for their families.

The first Mother’s Day service took place in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908, one day after the three-year anniversary of the death of Ann Reeves Jarvis. The event is now commemorated by the International Mother’s Day Shrine, a National Historic Landmark. (On the same day, a Mother’s Day event was also held at a department store in Philadelphia owned by John Wanamaker, who had provided financial support to Anna Jarvis.)

After this initial success, Jarvis began a massive campaign to have the holiday added to the national calendar. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially established Mother’s Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday.

In typical American fashion, an obvious business opportunity did not go unnoticed. Florists, greeting card companies, and confectioners benefited greatly, quickly turning the day into the large-scale, commercial event that it is today.

Unfortunately, Ms. Jarvis was not particularly enamored with the commercialized interpretation of the holiday she had helped conceive. In fact, she spent the latter part of her life fighting against what the holiday had become. On one occasion, she was arrested for disturbing the peace at a meeting of the American War Mothers, an organization that was selling Mother’s Day carnations to raise money. She later organized a petition to have the holiday rescinded, and she apparently spent much of her wealth on legal fees for lawsuits against parties she felt were misusing the name Mother’s Day. Needless to say, these efforts weren’t nearly as successful as her initial effort. Never having children of her own, Anna Jarvis ultimately died impoverished in a mental asylum.

 

Around the World

On a more uplifting note, various versions of Mother’s Day are now celebrated throughout the world. While many countries also observe the occasion on the second Sunday in May, exact dates can vary widely across the globe. Norway, for instance, celebrates on the second Sunday in February, while Argentina celebrates el Día de la Madre on the third Sunday in October. Some countries have a celebration that coincides with International Women’s Day on March 8th.

The exact meaning of the day can differ in different countries, as can the degree of religious association. In the United Kingdom, Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent, a tradition that dates back to medieval times when the occasion was designed to visit one’s mother church (where one was baptized). The modern version is more secular and, yes, commercial.

 

Now go out there and get something nice for your mother. (If you’re reading this after Mother’s Day, then start planning for next year.) At a minimum, you should say something really nice. And feel free to leave out the part about Anna Jarvis.

(This article was updated on April 29, 2022.)