ObservanceSunday, May 9, 2027
Mother's Day
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Mother's Day falls on the second Sunday in May, a date Congress fixed in 1914, and it was the work of one woman who spent much of the rest of her life objecting to what it became. Anna Jarvis built it as a memorial to her own mother and insisted on the singular possessive: one mother, your mother, not a general tribute to motherhood. The apostrophe held. Almost nothing else she wanted did.
History
Unusually for an American holiday, this one has a documented founder and a documented first day. Anna Maria Jarvis was born in Webster, West Virginia, on May 1, 1864. Her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, had organized Mothers' Day Work Clubs that cared for sick and wounded soldiers from both sides during the Civil War, and afterward arranged a Mother's Friendship Day meant to bring together the mothers of Union and Confederate veterans. When Ann died in 1905, her daughter began campaigning for a national day in her memory.
The first formal Mother's Day service was held on May 10, 1908, at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia. Jarvis herself was not there — she was at a Mother's Day event at Wanamaker's in Philadelphia — but she sent 500 white carnations for the congregation. Philadelphia newspaper publishers promoted the second Sunday in May, West Virginia passed a law recognizing the day in 1910, and other states followed.
Congress acted on May 8, 1914, with a joint resolution, H.J. Res. 263, entered in the statutes as Public Resolution No. 25 and titled "Designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day, and for other purposes." Woodrow Wilson issued the proclamation the next day, asking Americans to display the flag in honor of mothers whose sons had died in war.
What followed is the part Jarvis is least remembered for. She spent her later years opposing the holiday's commercial turn, objecting to florists who raised carnation prices for the occasion and to standardized greeting cards, which she regarded as a way of not writing to your mother. She died on November 24, 1948, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, at 84, having outlived her own holiday's original form by decades.
Timeline
- 1905 — Ann Reeves Jarvis dies; her daughter Anna begins campaigning for a national day in her memory.
- May 10, 1908 — The first formal Mother's Day service is held at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia; Jarvis sends 500 white carnations.
- 1910 — West Virginia passes a law designating the holiday, and other states follow.
- May 8, 1914 — Congress passes H.J. Res. 263, Public Resolution No. 25, designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.
- May 9, 1914 — Woodrow Wilson proclaims the first national Mother's Day, asking Americans to display the flag.
- November 24, 1948 — Anna Jarvis dies in West Chester, Pennsylvania, after years of opposing the holiday's commercialization.
How to observe
Write something. Jarvis's specific complaint about printed cards was that buying one is a way of avoiding the harder thing, and she is the person who built the holiday, so the objection carries some weight.
Find out about the woman the day is actually for. The original Mother's Day was a memorial service for one person, held by a daughter who had lost her, and the questions you can only ask while someone is alive are the ones the holiday was invented around.
The Grafton church where that first service was held still stands as the International Mother's Day Shrine; the National Park Service documents its place in the holiday's history and the Library of Congress holds photographs of it.
And if you want the holiday's arrival as it was actually reported, the Library of Congress's Chronicling America guide to Mother's Day collects newspaper coverage from 1908 onward. The years between 1908 and 1914 show a holiday being argued into existence rather than handed down.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it "Mother's Day" and not "Mothers' Day"?
Because the singular possessive was the point. Jarvis meant a day for each person's own mother rather than a tribute to mothers in general, and the 1914 joint resolution uses that spelling in its title.
Is Mother's Day a federal holiday?
No. Federal holidays are set by law, under 5 U.S.C. 6103, and Mother's Day is not among them. The 1914 resolution designated the day and asked for the flag to be displayed; it did not create a day off.
Who founded Mother's Day?
Anna Maria Jarvis, born in Webster, West Virginia, on May 1, 1864. She began campaigning after her mother's death in 1905, the first service was held in 1908, and Congress designated the day in 1914.
Did the founder really turn against the holiday?
Yes. The National Park Service records her objecting to florists raising carnation prices for the occasion and to standardized greeting cards.
Is Mother's Day the same date everywhere?
No. Many countries observe it on the American date, the second Sunday in May, while others mark a day for mothers at a different time of year entirely, with separate origins.
When is Mother's Day?
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | May 9 | Sunday |
| 2028 | May 14 | Sunday |
| 2029 | May 13 | Sunday |
| 2030 | May 12 | Sunday |
| 2031 | May 11 | Sunday |
Sources
- National Park Service, Anna Maria Jarvis — https://www.nps.gov/people/anna-maria-jarvis.htm → born in Webster, West Virginia, May 1, 1864; Ann Reeves Jarvis's Mothers' Day Work Clubs caring for soldiers of both sides and the later Mother's Friendship Day; Ann's death in 1905 as the spur; the first service on May 10, 1908 at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton; Jarvis's absence (at a Wanamaker's event in Philadelphia) and the 500 white carnations she sent; Wilson's 1914 designation; her objections to florists' carnation pricing and to standardized greeting cards; her death on November 24, 1948 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, at 84.
- Library of Congress, Mother's Day: Topics in Chronicling America — https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-mothers-day → the May 10, 1908 Grafton service; Philadelphia newspaper publishers promoting the second Sunday in May; West Virginia's 1910 law and other states following; Congress acting on May 8, 1914; Wilson's proclamation of the first national Mother's Day on May 9, 1914, asking that the flag be displayed; the newspaper record from 1908 onward.
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, Statutes at Large, volume 38, page 770 — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-38/pdf/STATUTE-38-Pg770.pdf → the primary text of the joint resolution: H.J. Res. 263, Public Resolution No. 25, "Designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day, and for other purposes," dated May 8, 1914, and the singular-possessive spelling of the holiday's name.
- Library of Congress, Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, the International Mother's Day Shrine, Grafton, West Virginia — https://www.loc.gov/item/2015631665 → the Grafton church's identity as the International Mother's Day Shrine and the Library's photographic holdings of it.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Federal Holidays — https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/ → the federal holidays established by 5 U.S.C. 6103, a list that does not include Mother's Day.
- Britannica, Mother's Day — https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mothers-Day → the modern holiday originating in the United States and observed on the second Sunday in May, with many countries using that date and some observing a day for mothers at other times of the year.
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