On May 10, 1908, the first Mother’s Day was celebrated at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, though it was not yet an official holiday. Anna Jarvis worked for three years petitioning for the holiday in honor of her own mother, Ann Jarvis, who passed away in 1905, as well as in honor of all mothers nationwide. Anna would see her hard work pay off but not in the way she had hoped.
In 1868, Ann Jarvis had created “Mother’s Friendship Day”, a day to reunite families who had been divided by the Civil War. She had also worked for sanitation committees for both the Union and Confederacy. Anna grew up idolizing her mother for the deeds she accomplished. Some sources state she may have even been obsessed with her.
West Virginia declared Mother’s Day an official holiday in 1910. Anna Jarvis chose the white carnation as the official flower of Mother’s Day, stating, “Its whiteness is to symbolize the truth, purity and broad-charity of mother love; its fragrance, her memory, and her prayers. The carnation does not drop its petals, but hugs them to its heart as it dies, and so, too, mothers hug their children to their hearts, their mother love never dying. When I selected this flower, I was remembering my mother’s bed of white pinks.”
President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s Day a national holiday in 1914. By the early 1920s, the floral industry saw an opportunity for profit and raised prices of white carnations for Mother’s Day. They also sold red carnations to meet the demand of the flower. The greeting card industry saw the profit as well, turning out numerous cards for the holiday. Mother’s Day was becoming commercialized which is not what Anna Jarvis wanted. She wanted the holiday to be about celebrating mothers, not about businesses making money off of mothers.
Regarding Mother’s Day cards, Jarvis sarcastically remarked, “A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother—and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment.”
Anger and frustration continued to grow within Jarvis as the floral and greeting card industries continued making more and more money off the annual holiday.
In 1943, at age 79, Anna Jarvis petitioned to have Mother’s Day removed as a national holiday. However, her efforts were interrupted when she was taken and placed in a sanatorium. People connected with the floral and greeting card industries paid her sanatorium bills to keep her there for the remainder of her life, where she could no longer be a bother to them. Anna Jarvis died on November 24, 1948 at age 84. She was buried next to her mother and sister near Philadelphia. She was never married nor did she ever have children of her own.
