Mother's Day has come to America once again. On the second Sunday of May each year, bearers of children are celebrated with flowers and a twenty-four hour respite from household chores..
As a national holiday, Mother's Day is still a relatively new tradition, and the evolutionary origins of its establishment reflect how American society underwent a change in consciousness toward both mothers and women as a whole in the 19th and 20th centuries.
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The Civil War Era: Mothers In Mourning
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Young, middle-aged and older mothers during the Civil War (1861-65) were an emotionally devastated lot. By the time the war ended in April 1865, approximately 630,000 mother's sons had been killed on battlefields ranging from Mississippi to Virginia. Young men in Confederate and Union uniforms were equally or more likely to die from disease than from bullets. Beyond those that perished, many soldiers, numbering in the tens of thousands, survived but returned home maimed or psychologically damaged.
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In response, mothers spontaneously banded together in towns and cities across America to console and support each other in efforts to cope with the trauma of either losing a son or taking care of a disabled one. Over the next twenty years, the American family was sustained by the unheralded sacrifices of women for their children, and citizens around the country began to appreciate the significant role of women and motherhood in a national context.
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A Michigan Mother Accelerates History
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Elements of the tale seem apocryphal, but the historical record can accurately credit a mother of two sons in Michigan with raising the profile of motherhood in the Midwest. On 13 May 1877, a preacher by the name of Myron Daugherty simply could not continue his sermon. According to the story, his son, who was an outspoken supporter of the Temperance movement (supporting a ban on alcoholic consumption), had been 'forced' to get drunk the night beforehand by a group of alcohol inspired rabble rousers against the anti-saloon agenda. Public knowledge of his son's inebriation in the town of Albion, Michigan was simply too much for the poor minister to handle. After breaking down in front of his congregation, Juliet Blakeley, one of the church members, walked up to the pulpit and finished his sermon. Afterwards, all or nearly all of the women in the church approached and rallied in support of Mr. Daugherty.
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When Mrs. Blakeley's two sons caught word of their mother's unprecedented act of public leadership and compassion, they were moved to return every year in May to honor her. Needless to say, the little Methodist Episcopal church in Albion received an unprecedented amount of attention along with its most famous mother.
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Was, however, the Reverend's son actually 'forced' to get drunk by hoodlums? If not true, the young man, in a moment of near-genius improvisation, likely concocted a wild story to conceal a self-motivated binge from his pious father. Nevertheless, the status of motherhood had been raised by the heartwarming response of Juliet Blakeley and her female peers.
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Anna Marie Jarvis: Founder of Mother's Day
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Although Frank E. Hering (1874-1943), a football coach and professor at Notre Dame, was the first person to call for a national day for mothers as President of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1904, Anna Marie Jarvis (1864-1948) and her nine-year crusade to establish Mother's Day in America is rightly considered to be the founder of the holiday.
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Upon the death of her mother on 9 May 1905, Jarvis was inspired to launch a campaign to set aside a day to honor motherhood on a national scale. By asking for its establishment on the second Sunday in May, the holiday would coincide with both the Sabbath (she was deeply religious) and the passing of her own mother within a few days. As husbands and children were home on Sunday, they could fully devote themselves to the woman of the household rather than the usual other way around.
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At her Methodist Episcopal church (does this Christian sect sound familiar?), Jarvis passed out carnations to her congregation on the second Sunday of May annually, thus beginning a longstanding tradition, and relentlessly pushed for Mother's Day to become an official, national holiday. By 1912, the idea had been floated through Congress, subsequently became a bill and reached President Woodrow Wilson's desk. Upon affixing his signature to the legislation, Wilson inaugurated the first national Mother's Day in America in May 1914.
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As the holiday became popularized over the next few years, greeting card companies and florists saw a unique opportunity for profit. Similar to the disillusionment of Philo Farnsworth over the misuse of his invention (the TV), Jarvis became embittered and spent the remainder of her life campaigning against the holiday. In her view, purchasing cards and flowers was a superficial act of appreciation which required little thought. In 1948, she died penniless after railing against the practice of the holiday for more than a quarter of a century.
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While her strident views have been echoed by contemporary critics, the presentation of cards, candy and flowers represent only the trappings of a larger sentiment. They are virtually always a prelude to a kiss, an embrace or a phone call that conveys a genuine display of affection and appreciation.
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To all the mothers in America and worldwide today, we sincerely thank you for your sacrifices through the years.
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Mother's Day should not be considered a mere twenty-four hour affair. The holiday ought to mark the beginning of new year to appreciate the role of mothers and motherhood in both our families and in our society.
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Happy Mother's Day.
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(Picture: A carnation)
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J Roquen