Читать книгу If Women Ran the World, Sh*t Would Get Done - Shelly Rachanow - Страница 11

In the 1860s and 1870s, when Anna Jarvis was a little girl, she often heard her mother wish that there was a day commemorating all mothers for their wonderful deeds of service to their families. Years later, after her mother died in 1905, she vowed to fulfill her mother's wish.

The following year, Anna Jarvis gathered with friends on the first anniversary of her mother's death to honor and celebrate all the wonderful things her mother had done.By the second anniversary of her mother's death, she had convinced her mother's coworkers at the Andrews Church to form a Mother's Day Memorial Committee. Church leaders also passed a resolution favoring the founding of Mother's Day and held a memorial service for Anna's mother.

Anna Jarvis's efforts didn't stop there. She wrote to leaders in business and politics on all levels, and promoted her idea for a National Mother's Day every chance she had. By the third anniversary of her mother's death, she had garnered enough support that full programs were held at two Andrews Churches to honor all mothers.

Through Anna Jarvis's continued efforts, Mother's Day was observed in forty-five states, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico in 1909 and the Governor of West Virginia issued the first Mother's Day proclamation in 1910. Then in 1914, just nine years after her mother's death, a joint resolution was passed by the United States House and Senate naming the second Sunday in May Mother's Day. At a time when women had not yet earned the right to vote, Anna Jarvis convinced leaders at the highest level to vote for a day that honors mothers everywhere. She fulfilled her mother's wish that all mothers are forever celebrated for the wonderful things they do.

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