Who Started Mother's Day?

Anna Jarvis started Mother's Day to honor her own mother sometime in early 1900s. Her mother was a Sunday school teacher who helped women how to take care of their children.

Anna Jarvis fought to make Mother's Day a national US holiday. She would sign her name Anna Jarvis, Founder of Mother's Day. She died alone, blind, and penniless at age 84 in a sanitarium. She was single and childless. However, her mother's prayer in 1876 to have a national holiday in honor of all mothers remained true to this day.

Where Did Mother's Day Start?

The first Mother's Day service was held at St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia in 1908. The church is now a museum called International Mother's Day Shrine. Two years later, Mother's Day became a holiday in West Virginia. Other states followed soon. In 1914, US Congress passed the law designating the Second Sunday of May as Mother's Day.

Why Is Mother's Day Celebrated on the Second Sunday of May?

The second Sunday of May is the nearest Sunday to the death anniversary of Anna Jarvis's mother.

Earlier Mother's Day in 1600

In England, Mothering Sunday is celebrated every 4th Sunday of Lent, originally to honor the Blessed Mother, but later celebrated to honor all mothers.