More About Mother’s Day started in West Virginia

Mother’s Day is a time-honored tradition of recognizing the women in our lives who raised us, dried our tears, and well, mothered us. Everyone has one or has someone who is like a mother to them. On the second Sunday of May, we honor those women who are our mothers. Whether we shower her with gifts, take her to a fancy dinner or make her a homemade card, what moms want most is to be surrounded by the love of her family. Knowing the people they love are safe, sound, and healthy is a mom’s number one priority.

Grafton, WV resident Anna Jarvis organized the holiday in 1908 in memory of her mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis, for the many contributions she made to her community in north-central West Virginia. Having lost 8 of her 12 children, the elder Jarvis dedicated her life to eradicating childhood disease. She organized Mothers’ Day Work Clubs to help buy medicine for needy families and care for those stricken by tuberculosis. During the Civil War, these clubs also cared for ill and wounded soldiers from both Union and Confederate armies. After the war ended, Anna Reed Jarvis, ever the peacemaker, organized a Mothers’ Friendship Day to bring together veterans from both sides.

Following her mother’s death in 1905, Anna Jarvis campaigned for a holiday to commemorate the work of her mother. The first observance of Mother’s Day occurred in 1908, when Jarvis held a memorial ceremony at St. Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton to honor her mother and all mothers. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made the holiday official, signing a Congressional resolution recognizing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

In the late 1960s, St. Andrews was established as the International Mother’s Day Shrine. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and later was declared a National Historic Landmark. The shrine, which hosts an annual Mother’s Day service, contains many of the church’s original furnishings as well as exhibits of Jarvis family photos and papers. Each year the International Mother’s Day Shrine Board of Trustees recognizes one special Mother of the Year.

Just a few miles south of Grafton, the Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum is open for tours. Built in 1854, the two-story wooden house also was used as headquarters for Gen. George B. McClellan during the Civil War. The museum displays more than 5,000 items belonging to the Jarvis family and has one room dedicated to McClellan memorabilia.

Date & Time

May 14, 2023

Communities

This event is seen in 222 communities. [view]

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