May
is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and is named
for the Greek Goddess
Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess
of fertility. It’s no surprise that May’s birthstone is the emerald, green in
color, and emblematic of love and success. The lily of the valley and the
common hawthorn are its symbolic birth flowers. For the majority of the
population in the United States, May is best known for Mother’s Day, an
official national holiday proclaimed by Woodrow Wilson in 1914.How did it come about? It was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St. Andrews’s Methodist Church in West Virginia. She sought to make Mother’s Day a recognized holiday in the United States in 1905, when her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Ann Reeves Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues.
Ironically, in 1908, our U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother's Day an official holiday, joking that they would also have to proclaim a "Mother-in-law's Day. It should be mentioned that Congress at that time was comprised of all men until 1917, when Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman to serve in the House of Representatives.
But
Anna Jarvis didn’t give up, and by 1911, all the states had some sort of
recognition for mothers in the month of May, many of them recognizing it as a
local holiday. In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases "Second Sunday
in May" and "Mother's Day,” and created the Mother's Day
International Association. In his proclamation, President Wilson continued with
the second Sunday of the month for the national and yearly celebration of
Mother’s Day. To all the mothers of our nation and the international community, I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day. May your day be cheerful, bright, and full of joy.
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