History
For those of you who enjoy Greek mythology, the earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. Rhea's children were Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hera, and Demeter. In ancient times, men, were thought useful for their hunting skills and for defending women and children but only a woman had the divine ability to create life and so women were honored and worshipped for their life-giving powers.
The
official observance of Mother's Day is credited to a woman by the name of
Anna Jarvis of
Philadelphia. Anna's mother died in 1905 and two years later,
Anna honored her mother by holding a church ceremony in remembrance of her.
She was so moved by the success of the ceremony that she began a massive
campaign to adopt a formal holiday honoring mothers. She sent letters all over
the state of West Virginia appealing to ministers to help her in her venture. In
1910, West Virginia became the first state to recognize Mother's Day on the
second Sunday of May. A year later, many other states followed suit. In 1914,
President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed Mother's Day a national holiday
to be held on the second Sunday of May every year.
The
Meaning of the Carnation
Anna's mother had a favorite flower, the white carnation. Anna promoted the
wearing of a white carnation as a symbol of devotion. As the years passed, this custom has
remained. Today, pink carnations are often worn to represent love for a living
mother while white carnations are worn in respect for those who are no longer
living.
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