A brief history of Mother’s Day

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

The modern Mother’s Day began in the United States thanks to Ann Reeves Jarvis, who began a campaign in 1905 to make Mother’s Day a nationally recognized holiday in the U.S. But we’ve been honoring mothers much longer than that.

The maternal goddess Rhea.

In Greek mythology, spring festivals were held in honor of the maternal goddess Rhea, who was the wife of Cronus and was said to be the mother of many deities. She was also the daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Uranus.

Ancient Romans also used to celebrate a three-day spring festival also, this one called Hilaria. This festival was dedicated to the mother goddess Cybele and was celebrated on the Ides of March, on or about the vernal equinox. Cybele’s followers would make offerings at the temple, hold parades, play games and have masquerades. As you may imagine, these were often wild affairs.

During the 16th and 17th centuries in England, Mothering Sunday would take place on the fourth Sunday of Lent. It began with a prayer service in honor of the Virgin Mary, and afterwards children would present their moms with flowers. The term originated as people returned to their “mother church” — usually the one in which a person was baptized — for a service. They called this going “a-mothering” which eventually became “Mothering Sunday.”

In 1870, female activist, writer and poet Julia Ward (who wrote “Battle Hymn of the Republic”) suggested an idea for a day of peace to honor and support mothers who lost sons in the Civil War. Ward was able to convince the city of Boston to recognize mothers on the second Sunday in June.

Mother’s Day didn’t officially become recognized in the U.S. until Jarvis, who never had any children, began her tireless campaign 1905. She was finally rewarded in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

Fun facts about Mother’s Day:

• Over one-quarter of all flowers purchased throughout the year falls on Mother’s Day.

• Traditionally, pink and red carnations are given to mothers that are still alive, while white ones are for those who have passed away.

• More phone calls are placed on Mother’s Day than any other day (over 122 million phone calls are placed each year).

• Approximately 65% of greeting card sales occur in the last five days before Mother’s Day.

• Mother’s Day was intended to be a day to honor mothers individually and not collectively, thus the reason for the apostrophe before the “s.”

• Mother’s Day is the busiest day of the year in the restaurant industry with nearly 62% of all Americans dining out that day.