Mother's Day

Mother's Day is May 9, 2010


Anna Jarvis: Founder of Mother's Day
By Erik Alsgaard*


Ann Reeves Jarvis
Anna Jarvis
Anna Jarvis wanted to honor and celebrate mothers, even though she herself was not one.

In 1905, Jarvis vowed to dedicate her life to establishing a day to honor all mothers, just as her own mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, had tried to do.

Reeves Jarvis, a member of St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, W. Va., had begun her efforts by launching a “Mother’s Work Day” in 1858. There, she fought for better sanitation standards in her town. She expanded those efforts during the Civil War to advocate for better sanitary conditions for soldiers on both sides of the conflict. After the war, Reeves Jarvis threw her weight behind reconciliation efforts. Mother's Day Shrine
By Erik Alsgaard*

Mother's Day Shrine is formerly St. Andrew's Methodist Church, Gafton, W.Va.

Since 1908, a celebration for mothers has taken place at the International Mother’s Day Shine, formerly St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, W.Va. where Anna Jarvis was a member, and where her mother Ann Reeves Jarvis taught for 20 years.

Though it no longer houses a congregation, the Shrine offers tours for visitors and guests three days a week, mid-April to mid-October.

The Shrine also hosts an annual Mother’s Day service, which will be held at 2 p.m. on May 9, 2010. At that time, the Grafton area “Mother of the Year” will be honored, carrying on the 102-year old tradition. At other times of the year, the Shine hosts educational opportunities for the community, helping people with everything from how to draw up a will to celebrating U.S. history. The Shrine is also used for weddings (six are booked so far for 2010).




Anna Jarvis
The following year St. Andrew's held a special Sunday service to honor mothers. Jarvis gave up her job—reportedly, she was either a teacher or a clerk—to work full-time advocating for a national Mother’s Day. She was able to enlist the World Sunday School Association in the lobbying campaign, a critical factor in convincing legislators in the U.S. Congress to support the holiday, which it did in 1914.
After Mother’s Day was established, Jarvis campaigned against its commercialization. In a press release critical of the floral industry, Jarvis wrote, "What will you do to route charlatans, bandits, pirates, racketeers, kidnappers and other termites that would undermine with their greed one of the finest, noblest and truest movements and celebrations?"

Jarvis’ criticisms against the florist industry came as florists were quickly realizing the potential profit in selling flowers on Mother’s Day, and which had written in a trade publication, Florists’ Review, “This was a holiday that could be exploited."

Jarvis next filed suit against New York Governor Al Smith over a Mother's Day celebration. When the suit was thrown out, she protested and was arrested for disturbing the peace. In the 1930’s, she disrupted a meeting of the American War Mothers, protesting their sale of white carnations for Mother's Day. She had to be removed by the police.

And if you’re thinking of sending a greeting card instead of flowers, Jarvis wouldn’t be too pleased, either. Jarvis said greetings cards were “a poor excuse for the letter you are too lazy to write." In the end, Anna Jarvis died penniless in a Philadelphia nursing home. Her bills were all paid for by the Florists Exchange.

—Erik Alsgaard is a freelance journalist in Lakeland, Fla.






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The Flyer • May 2010 • Issue 5 • Volume 41 • www.gcsrw.org


As one can see Anna Jarvis would not be pleased with the Hallmark day that we have made this Sunday. One alternative to cards and flowers would be to take that money and donate it to a favorite charity of your mother's in her name.