What President Made Mother's Day an Official Holiday?

In 1914, Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s Day an official holiday. Grassroot campaigns for a national day to celebrate mothers began as early as 1870 by Julia Ward Howe, the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and other mother's day type celebrations have occurred as far back in history at the 1600s. However, the Mother’s Day that we know today was brought about through the work of Anna Jarvis beginning in 1908.

In 1914, Representative James T. Heflin of Alabama and Senator Morris Sheppard of Texas presented a resolution that the second Sunday of every May should be Mother’s Day. President Woodrow Wilson agreed and adopted the resolution.

Origin of the Mother's Day Holiday

Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis, Anna Jarvis’ mother, worked hard after the Civil War to rebuild her Appalachian community. She organized women and taught them sanitation and nursing techniques. By doing so, she helped build her community into a stronger place.

Her daughter learned these lessons and more during her time in the Female Seminary. As her mother aged, she cared for her until the end of her life. After doing so, she believed that many people do not cherish their mothers enough while alive. She then decided to dedicate her life to establishing a day where people all over would honor their mothers.

She began by asking friends and then branched out into a letter writing campaign. She contacted religious leaders, businessmen, and members of the government. By doing this, she managed to get the first unofficial Mother’s Day in 1908. Many people across the country caught on to this idea.

Unfortunately, the rampant commercialization of Mother’s Day saddened Anna Jarvis not more than ten years after it began, and she later regretted the day that she helped to create.