Today, May 8, is Mother's Day; a sentimental occasion honouring motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers on the society. It's celebrated on the second Sunday of May.
The origin of this special day dates back thousands of years to ancient Greeks and Romans. However, Mother's Day as we know it now, was established in the U.S., thanks to the efforts of social activist Anna Jarvis.
Following her mother's death in 1905, Jarvis conceived Mother's Day as a way of honouring the sacrifices mothers make for their children.
The first official Mother's Day celebration, organised by Jarvis, took place in May 1908 at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia, U.S. That same day, thousands of people attended a Mother's Day event at one of Wanamaker's [chain of department stores] retail stores in Philadelphia. The movement and the occasion started gaining traction thereon.
Over the next several years, Jarvis worked towards ensuring the holiday was added to the national calendar. Jarvis believed that American holidays were biased towards male achievements and she wanted to change that.
She started a letter writing campaign to newspapers and politicians urging them to adopt Mother's Day as a significant annual occasion. By 1912, many states, towns and churches established the day as an annual holiday. Eventually, Jarvis formed the Mother's Day International Association to help promote her cause and in 1914, it was officially established via President Woodrow Wilson that the second Sunday in May will be celebrated as Mother's Day.
