Mother’s Day is almost here so now is a great time to reflect on everything your mom does for you. From chauffeuring you to dance classes and competitions, to supporting you financially, and being a shoulder to cry on when everything feels like it’s falling apart – let’s face it, your mom is awesome!
But, moms across the country didn’t always have a day to celebrate. Mother’s Day was founded by Anna Jarvis, who sadly ended up penniless, childless, and committed to a mental institute. Here is her story.
Born in 1864, Anna Jarvis was inspired by her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, a community health advocate who had organized “Mother’s Day Work Clubs” to combat infant mortality and improve sanitary conditions.
Following her mother’s death, on the second Sunday in May 1905, Anna sought to honor her legacy by advocating for a day dedicated to all mothers.
The first official Mother’s Day celebration took place in 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia, and by 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially declared the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day. However, the holiday’s growing commercialization deeply troubled Jarvis.
She had envisioned Mother’s Day as an intimate occasion for expressing love and gratitude, not as a commercial opportunity for profit. Distressed by the rapidly commercializing nature of the day, Jarvis spent much of her fortune and the rest of her life fighting what she saw as a misuse of the holiday, engaging in lawsuits and public protests.
“She wanted Mother’s Day to be a very private acknowledgment of all the mother does for the family,” said Katharine Antolini, a history professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
This fierce dedication to preserving the sanctity of Mother’s Day came with personal costs. Jarvis never married nor had children of her own—her entire life was devoted to the celebration she created. Her later years were particularly somber. Feeling isolated and embittered by the commercial takeover of Mother’s Day, her health deteriorated. By 1944, she was blind and impoverished, and she was placed in the Marshall Square Sanitarium in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where she eventually passed away in 1948.
Anna Jarvis’s story is tragic. The woman who devoted her life to celebrating motherhood never experienced it herself and spent her final days in an asylum. Today’s Mother’s Day, with its cards and flowers, stands in stark contrast to Jarvis’s vision of personal reflection and quiet appreciation, but however you decide to celebrate, remember the most important part is letting your mom know how much you love and appreciate her!