Most people don’t know this. I didn’t. The official, national U.S. celebration of Mother’s Day began with a teacher.
In 1907, Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), a Philadelphia schoolteacher, began a movement to set up a national Mother’s Day in honor of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. Anna began her mission on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, by honoring her mother at church services by handing out her mother’s favorite flowers, the white carnation. This flower represents sweetness, purity, and patience. Today it is the official flower of Mother’s Day.
Next Anna began to lobby the idea of a Mother’s Day to prominent politicians and businessmen. Her hard work finally paid off in the year 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson issued the first proclamation making Mother’s Day an official national holiday.
Initially the idea was that on Mother’s Day, the U.S. flag would be displayed on government buildings and at people’s homes “as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” Over time, Mother’s Day has become very commercial. This was never Anna’s intent, she wanted the holiday to one of respect and sentiment.
Regardless of where time has taken this special holiday, mothers in every land deserve our thanks and appreciation.
So do teachers. Many times teachers are the mothers (and fathers) of the classroom. They inspire, discipline, encourage, praise and of course, they teach us.
"Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to 'jump at de sun.' We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground."
-Zora Neale Hurston
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