10 Things You Should Know about the History of Mother’s Day

Ancient Greeks and Romans engaged in many celebrations of mothers and all that is associated with the act of motherhood. It did not begin with celebrating human mothers, but instead, the festivals were held to honor Rhea and Cybele. These were known as the mother goddesses.

Rhea was known as the Titaness mother of the gods. She represented various aspects of life, such as motherhood, generation, and fertility. Her name represents both “ease” and “flow.” Rhea also represents the eternal flow. This flow represents those associated with women such as milk, menstrual blood, and birth waters. To some, she was even referred to as the goddess of comfort.

Cybele was often referred to as the “Great Mother” and was typically associated with Rhea.

The two were worshipped with various rites such as the Megalesia festival, which began on April 4. The festival signified the anniversary of Phrygian’s arrival into Rome. While the intricacies of this festival are largely unknown, it is believed that entertainment methods such as plays formed a big part of it. Rhea was worshipped with festivals in which her believers used various dance and chants. The tympanon, which is a large handheld drum, was also used with the intention of provoking religious ecstasy.

It is widely believed that Cybele’s rites were inspired by those of Rhea. It is said that the resemblance between the two goddesses was very strong. This caused the Greeks to regard her Cybele as their own Rhea.

While the ancient festivals mentioned above are the earliest recorded events that can be associated with Mother’s Day, these are archaic and have no modern ties to the celebration. In modern times, there is one festival that is clearly and closely associated with the inception of the Mother’s Day festivities. This is an early Christian festival, which is known as Mothering Sunday.

The Mothering Sunday tradition was conceptualized and in the United Kingdom and various parts of Europe. It took place on the fourth Sunday of Lent, and the idea was for faithful persons to make a return to their “mother church.” This refers to the main church that is in the vicinity of one’s home. The reason for going to this church is to take part in a special service.

This festival is typically celebrated in various Roman Catholic Church parishes, the Church of England, as well as other places in the UK. Anglican parishes around the world are also known to take part in the event.

In recent times, the tradition of Mothering Sunday has become more of a secular holiday. During the holiday, children give their mothers gifts, flowers, and various tokens of appreciation. The popularity of this festival has steadily declined. This decline began in the 1930s, which is when the current iteration of the American spin on Mother’s Day began to take shape.

There are numerous forms of Mother’s Day around the world that all have their own origin story. Britain is no exception to this, and its Mothering Day festival’s inception dates back centuries. In fact, it began in the 17^th century and had similar characteristics to other variations of the holiday.

The time is the first similarity as the festival is celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent. This festival began during a time when apprentices and servants were very commonplace in Britain. Servants were usually required always to be present at their place of work, which was usually the home of the master. However, the significance of motherhood was the reason for the making of an exception to the rule. Apprentices and servants could return home on this day so that they could visit their mothers.

These apprentices and servants also traditionally brought a gift with them for their mothers. This gift was usually a fruit-filled pastry known as a Simnel or a fruitcake known as a “mothering cake.” There was also a special dinner served, which included what was known as Furmety. This was a sweetened cereal dish that was boiled.

Once the 19^th century rolled around, the holiday was almost completely non-existent. The celebration was revived in Britain at the conclusion of World War II. The servicemen are the ones that brought the custom, but businesses saw it as an opportunity to make sales.

Mother’s Peace Day is an ancient tradition that came about during a fight for peace in the 1870s by Julia Ward Howe. There was an active peace movement around this time, as well as a women’s suffrage movement. During the year 1870, the Mother’s Day Proclamation of Peace was formally penned; however, it would be another two years before Mother’s Peace Day was officially recognized.

In 1872, the holiday became a formalized one, and it took place annually thereafter on the second Sunday in June. Note that this was the earliest form of the celebration in the United States as all this took place in New York City. This, therefore, was the initial form of the American Mother’s Day that is celebrated today.

The intention of Mother’s Peace Day was for the recognition and acceptance of women’s rights and significance. Back then, it was less of a holiday and more of a movement. This identity was not retained over time, and the focus of the holiday shifted to morph into something else.

Though the holiday is heavily centered around mothers today, it is more of a festival of appreciation. Between its original form and now, the holiday underwent a few iterations for different reasons. Corporations played a big part in the modernization of the concept of Mother’s Peace Day. Unfortunately, this was not for moral reasons that these businesses were looking for a way to profit. Therefore, the inclusion of gifts, flowers, teddy bears, and candy became commonplace, so the sentiment of appreciation could be beneficial to these businesses.

While the tradition of Mother’s Day is not a declaration or an agreement in most places, it is in the United States. On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed the presidential proclamation that was responsible for the establishment of the very first Mother’s Day. The purpose of this declaration was to make it a national tradition

To celebrate all of America’s mothers.

The idea for the Mother’s Day holiday is credited by many to either Anna Jarvis or Julia Ward Howe. It is widely believed that the president signed the proclamation because of their efforts. Though this was done in 1914, there were several individual states that were already practicing the tradition. However, there was no set date that was set aside for it. After President Wilson successfully lobbied for this in Congress, Mother’s Day was officially acknowledged on the second Sunday of each May. In his proclamation, Wilson stated that the holiday gave people the opportunity to share in the reverence and love for the mothers of the United States.

In 2002, when George Bush was president, he expressed similar sentiments to Wilson. This was done during an address Bush gave during Mother’s Day of 2002. During his statement, he gave high praise to foster mothers. He also gave a commendation to his own mother. Both commendations were for the love that mothers are known to have as well as the sacrifices they make for their children.

There was a former football coach who took on the task of promoting an early iteration of the Mother’s Day festivities. However, he was alleged to have “kidnapped” the holiday. This coach’s name was Frank Hering, and he was a faculty member and a coach at the University of Notre Dame in the 1900s.

It is said that he proposed the Mother’s Day concept even before Anna Jarvis. During 1904, he advocated for a gathering in Indianapolis. This gathering was open to the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and it was meant to give recognition to mothers. His mission statement was to allocate one day annually to a national memorial in honor of mothers and motherhood.

At the time, only the idea was communicated. There was no month or day designated for this; however, he did indicate that he preferred if it took place on a Sunday. Some of the Fraternal Order of Eagles took on the challenge, and to this day, modern members of the organization regard their predecessors as the real founders of Mother’s Day.

Jarvis was very upset about the whole situation and wrote about her frustration. In her writing, she described Hering’s interests as being selfish, and she also described his as a claimant attempting to take her title of the originator of Mother’s Day.

Katharine Antolini, who was a professor at the West Virginia Wesleyan College, states that Jarvis only made these sentiments because of her ego. She points to everything that Anna Jarvis signed, which read “Anna Jarvis, Founder of Mother’s Day.”

Jarvis was mentioned a couple of times above; however, light has not yet been shed on why she held Mother’s Day so close to her. Jarvis became invested in this following the death of her own mother in 1905. After this, she started to conceptualize the holiday to recognize mothers for the sacrifices they made for their children.

Taking on this venture meant that she needed financial backing and she was able to obtain this from John Wanamaker, who was the owner of a department store in Philadelphia. In 1908 she used a West Virginia Based Methodist church for the first recognized Mother’s Day celebration. Thousands of people also went to Wanamaker’s store on that day for a Mother’s Day event.

The celebration was a huge success and, therefore, Jarvis opted to get her holiday added to the national calendar. This was even though she was unmarried and childless for her entire life. However, she argued for her holiday through an incredible writing campaign in which she noted the bias in favor of male accomplishments, and she urged prominent politicians to set aside a day to honor mothers.

When 1912 came, the holiday had been adopted by many churches, towns, and states. Jarvis also commissioned the Mother’s Day International Association, which was a driving force for her mission. This all paid off in 1914 when President Wilson signed the proclamation discussed above.

Howe also tried to institute a Mother’s Day in the United States. She did this during a rough time as the American Civil war was well underway when she set out on her mission. She was very driven by the carnage she saw in both the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War.

During 1870, she attempted to get a manifesto done for peace. She tried to use international peace conferences in both London and Paris to do so. By 1872, she began to advocate for the Mother’s Day of Peace discussed above. This was planned for and celebrated on June 2. The purpose of the day was to show respect for womanhood, motherhood, and the honoring of peace. Though it started with minimal support, her idea gained much traction.

People in Boston honored these celebrations for at least 10 years. Unlike Jarvis who had financial backing, Howe mostly pushed this on her own accord. The result of this was that the celebrations began to subside once she stopped bearing most of the costs associated with them. However, some of the celebrations continued for about 30 years.

Julia shifted her energy and began to advocate for both women’s rights and peace in other ways as time passed. Though there was no mention of Mother’s Day, a stamp was created in Julia Ward Howe’s honor. This was done in 1988 to recognize her desire and her actions.

As you can probably tell, Anna Jarvis cared deeply for Mother’s Day. She is one of the people credited with inventing the holiday after all. Since she was so instrumental in the festivities, she had a fixed idea of what it all represented. She also had her own idea of the activities that should be associated with the holiday. This means that she was heavily averse to anything that didn’t fit the bill.

Since the early celebrations of Mother’s Day, many people and groups saw it as an opportunity to raise funds. This was not something that started with corporations looking for profit. In fact, many of these groups sought to raise these funds for charitable and noble causes. One of these causes was to assist mothers that were in need. However, Anna was simply not having it.

Antolini stated that she referred to these Christian groups as pirates. Katharine went on to indicate that while many people see the good side of using the day to raise funds for impoverished mothers or World War I veterans, Jarvis hated them for doing so.

According to Antolini, the reason for this is because Jarvis had no trust in fundraisers to pass the money on to whom it was intended for.

This was understandable as Jarvis lived in a time before there were any charity watchdog organizations. This means that there was no true supervision of how raised funds were used.

As stated before, there are numerous variations of Mother’s Day worldwide. Many countries have their own history with the holiday, which has shaped the customs that they abide by. In Thailand, Mother’s Day depends on the birthday of the queen. Therefore, the celebration currently takes place annually in August. This is to facilitate doing so on the birthday of Sirikit, who is the current queen.

In Ethiopia, there is another alternative to how Mother’s Day celebrations take place. There, the celebration takes place in the fall of each year. During this time, families come together to enjoy a massive feast and to sing songs. The celebration is called Antrosht there, and it is a multi-day festival that is dedicated entirely to the honoring of motherhood.

Some people have used the day for the launch of feminist and political agendas. One example of this took place in 1968, and it concerned Coretta Scott King. She was the wife of Martin Luther King Jr., and she used the day as a platform to organize a march to recognize women and children who were underprivileged.

During the era of the 1970s, there were various women’s groups that used the holiday to advance social causes. One of the most prominent reasons for using Mother’s Day as a platform was to shed light on the issues such as inequalities in rights and childcare access.

Conclusion

There is no substitute for a mother. The nurturing and socializing that a mother does is superhuman, not to mention the sacrifices she makes for the sake of her children. Being a mother is an incredible task, and it is fitting that a day is dedicated to respectfully reflecting on and paying respect to mothers for this. For many people, Mother’s Day is just another holiday that they have come to know, and they celebrate like everyone else.

However, there is much historical significance behind the holiday that is unknown to many.

The initial customs can be traced all the way back to Ancient Greece and Rome. These practices took the form of festivals in honor of mythical goddesses. These goddesses were called the mother of the gods. The earliest known modern form of the celebration is Mothering Sunday, which is a celebration that was hosted on the four Sunday of Lent.

While this celebration helped to shape the holiday that is known today, the efforts of activists such as Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis, also contributed immensely. While Howe used it to promote peace, Jarvis was wholly dedicated to recognizing womanhood and motherhood. She was very outspoken about what Mother’s Day symbolized to her and was outwardly opposed to anyone to tried to make it into something else.

There is no single way to celebrate Mother’s Day and, therefore, it has numerous forms around the world. Different nations have different traditions associated with the celebration, and it is also done at different times.