GAZELLE MAGAZINE MAY 2018 | Page 41

HEARTH & HOME Mother’s Day History A nna M. Jarvis, born in 1864 in Webster, Virginia, is credited as the force behind Mother’s Day. When Jarvis was 41 years old, her mother died. On the second anniversary of her mother’s death (the second Sunday in May of 1908), Jarvis made public her plans to establish a day to honor mothers. Other sources report “Mother’s Day” church services on May 10, 1908, in Grafton, West Virginia, and on the same day, a celebration of mothers at the Wannamaker Auditorium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The observance became official in 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation naming the second Sunday of May as a day for “public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” The year 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day. Source: Hallmark SAVVY I SOPHISTICATED I SASSY 39