American Minute with Bill Federer
Mother's Day Origins & Ageless Importance
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A Mothers' Day celebration
was held in Boston in 1872 at the suggestion of abolitionist and suffragist
Julia Ward Howe,
writer of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
In the following decades, numerous
Mother's Day efforts
sprang up.
One was in 1904, by the administrator of the
University of Notre Dame,
Frank Hering, After observing
students sending penny postcards to their mothers,
he proposed "setting aside
one day
in the year as a nationwide memorial to the memories of
mothers and motherhood,"
writing:
"Throughout history the great men of the world have
given their credit for their achievements to their mothers.
The Holy Church recognizes this, as does
Notre Dame."
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The person who successfully made
Mother's Day
into a
national event
was
Anna Jarvis, of Grafton, West Virginia,
the granddaughter of a Baptist minister.
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Anna Jarvis
was a member of
Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church,
where she taught
Sunday school.
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In 1876, after one of her lessons, she closed with a prayer:
"I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mothers day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it."
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Anna Jarvis' mother
, during the Civil War, had organized
Mothers' Day Work Club
to care for wounded soldiers,
both Union and Confederate.
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Anna' mother
raised money for medicine, inspected bottled milk, improved sanitation and hired women to care for families where mothers suffered from tuberculosis, May 9, 1905.
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Inspired by
her mother's self-sacrifice and generosity, Anna Jarvis
wanted to honor her and all mothers.
On May 12, 1907,
Anna
persuaded her church,
Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church,
to have a small
Mother's Day service.
The church then agreed to set aside every year the
2nd Sunday in May,
the anniversary of her mother's death, as a day to
show appreciation to all mothers -- the makers of the home.
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The next year, May 10, 1908,
Anna
organized a
Mother's Day
two places:
Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church,
where she sent a telegram;
and in
Philadelphia,
where she gave a moving speech in the auditorium of the 12-story
Wanamaker Department Store.
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John Wanamaker
was a retail pioneer and founder of one the first department stores.
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Wanamaker,
who had paintings of Christ throughout his store, stated:
"There is a power in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep uppermost the profound conviction that it is the Gospel that is to win the heart and convert the world.
The things that were sweet dreams in our childhood are now being worked out. The procession is being made longer and longer; the letters of Christ's name are becoming larger and larger."
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With the financial backing of
John Wanamaker
and
H.J. Heinz,
maker of "57 varieties" of ketchup,
Anna Jarvis
began a
letter-writing campaign
to ministers and politicians to establish
a "national" Mothers' Day.
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Due to the overwhelming support of
pastors
and
churches,
by 1909,
forty-five states observed Mother's Day.
People wore
white and red Carnations
on
Sunday
to pay tribute to their
mothers.
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On MAY 9, 1914,
President Woodrow Wilson
proclaimed
the first National Mothers' Day
as a:
"public expression of ...
love and reverence
for the
mothers of our country."
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President Reagan
said in his
Mother's Day Proclamation,
1986:
"A Jewish saying sums it up:
'God
could not be everywhere -
so He created mothers.'"
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English Poet Robert Browning
wrote:
"Motherhood:
All
love
begins and ends there."
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Mothers
have the role of
imparting values into children,
as American poet
William Ross Wallace
wrote:
"The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."
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Dr. James Dobson
addressed the National Religious Broadcasters, Feb. 16, 2002:
"If they can get control of
children
... they can change the whole culture in
one generation."
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This was echoed by historians
Will and Ariel Durant
in
The Lessons of History,
1968:
"Civilization
is not inherited; it has to be
learned
and earned by
each generation anew
;
if the
transmission
should be interrupted ... civilization would die, and we should be savages again."
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On February 3, 1983, at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, President
Ronald Reagan
stated:
"I have
a very special old Bible.
And alongside a verse in the Second Book of Chronicles there are some words, handwritten, very faded by now.
And believe me, the person who wrote these words was an authority. Her name was Nelle Wilson Reagan.
She was my mother."
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Reagan
stated:
"Freedom is never more than
one generation
away from extinction.
We didn't pass it to
our children
in the bloodstream.
It must be fought for,
protected,
and
handed on for them to do the same,
or one day we will spend our sunset years telling
our children and our children's children
what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
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On
Mother’s Day,
May 8, 2020,
President Donald J. Trump
proclaimed:
"We celebrate the
exceptional mothers
in our lives ...
Whether they became
mothers
through birth, adoption, foster care, or other means, these women are
deserving of our unending gratitude and praise this day and every day.
The intuition and wisdom passed from
mother to child
strengthens the fabric of our Nation
and
preserves generations of wisdom and familial values.
In our earliest days,
our mothers provide us with love and nurturing care.
They often know our talents before we do,
and they selflessly
encourage us to use these God-given gifts
to
pursue our biggest dreams
...
I encourage all Americans to express their
love
and
respect
for their
mothers
... whether with us in person or in spirit, and to reflect on the
importance of motherhood
to the prosperity of our families, communities, and Nation."
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The
Apostle Paul
wrote to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:5):
"I have been reminded of
your sincere faith,
which first lived in
your
grandmother Lois
and in
your mother Eunice
and, I am persuaded,
now lives in you also."
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Abraham Lincoln
stated:
"“I remember
my mother's prayer
s and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”
"All that I am or ever hope to be,
I owe to my angel mother.”
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Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924
[email protected]
American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.
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