9th May: Mother’s Day
Every year, Mother’s Day is celebrated to appreciate mothers, who play an immensely important role in one’s life. This special day is celebrated every year on the second Sunday of May. This year it will be celebrated on May 9, 2021.
Mothers are selfless, shower unconditional love on their children, and sacrifice all their needs for their families. Starting from feeding us to teaching us manners, our mothers do it all.
History of Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day has been celebrated around the world since, well, since motherhood. In the United States, Julia Ward Howe inspired the first movement toward a national observance during the Civil War. Appealing to the public for a “Mother’s Day for Peace” after witnessing the devastation left by war, Howe went on an international crusade. While her efforts never gained formal recognition for an official observance, she was acknowledged posthumously in 1988 for her achievements and her efforts for women’s rights.
In 1905, Anna Jarvis, the daughter of Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis successfully introduced the idea for a national holiday recognizing mothers. Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis had followed Howe’s campaign and had pursued her own volunteer efforts during the Civil War. Ann Marie died on May 9, 1905, and her daughter, Anna, missed her mother greatly. She started a dedicated letter-writing campaign to declare an official Mother’s Day. Through Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, the first observance occurred on May 10, 1908.
This day, to honor Anna Jarvis’s mother, grew into a national observance until in 1911 when every state participated. Soon it was spreading internationally, and on May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day a national holiday to be held on the second Sunday of May.