Picture, if you will, a holiday. Not just any holiday, but a holiday that you created. You worked really, really hard to secure recognition for this holiday. Even the president gave you the thumbs up and declared it a national holiday. This all sounds really awesome, right?
Not if you’re Anna Jarvis, the woman who founded Mother’s Day back in the early 1900s, then barnstormed all around the nation until President Woodrow Wilson declared in 1914 that the second Sunday in May would forever be the big day for American moms from sea to shining sea.
But things weren’t so peachy for Jarvis, according to historian Katharine Antolini. It seems Jarvis was annoyed at President Wilson taking all the credit for her big idea. She also had a bone to pick with the candy industry, the floral industry and even a bunch of charities that she felt were only interested in turning her special day into a massive commercial enterprise. Jarvis just wanted Mother’s Day to be a day on which sons and daughters from all over would go home and spend the day with their moms. It was that simple.
Check out the video above, courtesy of Great Big Story, then go and learn more about Anna Jarvis and the creation of her (not so) favorite day. Happy Mother’s Day!
