Tell Me Something I Don’t Know

When it comes to Mother’s Day, there are certain things most of us already know.

It falls every year on the second Sunday in May. It’s a day to recognize your mother — or someone who has been like a mother to you. And for many Americans, it now comes wrapped in the full Mother’s Day experience: greeting cards, flowers, brunch reservations, and perhaps a last-minute panic purchase on Saturday afternoon because someone forgot what weekend it was.

And business is booming. This year, Americans are expected to spend a record $38 billion on Mother’s Day — more than $284 per person celebrating the holiday.

The modern version of Mother’s Day feels familiar. Its history is anything but.

The Original Vision: Peace, Not Presents
The earliest inspiration for Mother’s Day emerged in the aftermath of the Civil War, championed by antiwar activist and poet Julia Ward Howe, best known for writing The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Working with widows and orphans from both the North and South, Howe saw firsthand how war devastated families, communities, and entire generations.

In 1870, she issued what became known as the Mother’s Day Proclamation, originally titled an Appeal to womanhood throughout the world. In it, Howe urged women to unite across nations in pursuit of peace and to resist the forces that sent sons into war.

One line remains especially striking: Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.

When her vision for an international coalition of women failed to materialize, Howe pushed for something smaller but still ambitious: an annual Mother’s Day for Peace, celebrated in June. For a brief time, in a few places, it caught on.

Next Up
A few years later came another largely forgotten figure in the story: Mary Towles Sasseen.

In 1887, Sasseen organized what is believed to be one of the first formal Mother’s Day celebrations with her students. Motivated by love for her own mother, she promoted the idea of a national holiday honoring mothers annually — ideally on April 20, her mother’s birthday.

She published pamphlets, traveled the country speaking about the idea, and even persuaded at least one Ohio school system to adopt the celebration during the 1890s.

And there’s an irony here: Sasseen never became a mother herself. She left teaching after marrying and moving to Florida and died in 1906, years before Mother’s Day became a nationally recognized holiday.

Third Time’s the Charm. Or Maybe Not.
The woman most associated with Mother’s Day is Anna Jarvis. After the death of her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, Anna launched a campaign to create a national holiday honoring mothers. Like Mary Towles Sasseen before her, Jarvis never had children herself.

She wrote letters, organized events, lobbied politicians, and pressured state governments. Slowly but steadily, one state after another adopted the observance.

Her efforts ultimately succeeded. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially established Mother’s Day as a national holiday, to be celebrated each year on the second Sunday in May.

And almost immediately after winning that fight, Anna Jarvis began another one. Hallmark, florists, candy makers, and department stores quickly transformed Mother’s Day into a booming business. Jarvis was appalled. She believed the holiday was supposed to be personal between a mother and child — not profitable.

She spent years protesting businesses, boycotting events, filing lawsuits, and trying to reclaim the holiday she had worked so hard to create. It didn’t work.

Anna Jarvis died penniless in a Pennsylvania sanitarium in 1948 after spending much of her fortune fighting the commercialization of Mother’s Day.

The Last Word
Turns out Mother’s Day wasn’t originally about buying something.

It was about standing for something.

And for a holiday we think we know so well, that may be the most surprising part of all.

Tell me something I didn’t know, indeed.

Happy reading,
Suzanne Daniels, Ph.D.