The history of Mother's Day

Rick Koole

LifePointe Church

Anna Reeves Jarvis is credited by most with founding Mother’s Day. After her mother Ann died May 9, 1905, Jarvis set out to establish a day that would honor her mom and others in America.

She began the movement in West Virginia, which hosted the first official Mother’s Day celebration three years later at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill officially recognizing Jarvis’ idea as a national holiday to be celebrated each second Sunday in May.

The white carnation became the official flower of Mother’s Day shortly after J...