03 may 2005
Mother's Day
by Nanci Olesen
The roots of Mother’s Day are a far cry from the splashy cell phone ads and the relentless reminders to BUY
FLOWERS that we know now.
In 1870, it was Julia Ward Howe, mom of six kids, who wrote “The Mother’s Day
Proclamation for Peace”.
She had recently walked the battlefields of the Civil War with her husband and with Abraham Lincoln. She had just
written “The
Battle Hymn of the Republic” . But now, as the Franco-Prussian War was beginning, she felt that she could not
bear any more violence. She called for a congress of women to gather immediately to promote PEACE: A Mother’s
Day for Peace.
Listen to her speech:
Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise all women who have hearts,
whether your baptism be that of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
We will not have questions decided by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands shall not come to us reeking with carnage,
for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them
of
charity, mercy and patience.
We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.
From the bosom of the devastated
earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says, “Disarm, Disarm!” The sword of murder is not the balance of justice!
Blood does not wipe out
dishonor nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons ofwar, let women now leave all that may be left
of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other
as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after their own time
the
sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God—
In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international
questions, the great and general interests of peace—
Julia Ward Howe held a standing room only meeting in Boston the day that she read that proclamation. But A Mother’s
Day for Peace did not become an annual event nationwide.
About this same time, there was Anna Jarvis, who organized “A Mother’s Friendship Day” in which mothers from both North and South whose sons had died in the Civil War came, dressed in grey or blue to commemorate
North or South, to hold hands together and sing.
That Anna Jarvis had a daughter, also named Anna Jarvis. On May 10, 1908, young Anna Jarvis organized what is now considered to be the first Mother’s Day: a church service dedicated to mothers, recognizing the unappreciated work that mothers do, AND calling for peace in the home and in the world.
Andrews Methodist Church, in Grafton, West Virginia, is considered
the Mother Church of Mother’s Day. The next year Mother’s Day was celebrated in 45 states.
On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially named the second Sunday in May Mother’ s Day. That declaration included flowery language about the important role mothers play in the home and in society. But there was no mention in this document of a mother’s role in promoting peace in the world.
The holiday took hold and gained momentum as a time
of giving flowers, gifts and cards to our mothers.
I’m the mom of three kids, ages 10, 11, and 14. I’ll
get the flowers and the cards. I’m even hoping for a nice brunch. I love being appreciated for being a mom. I always let my own mom know how much I love her on the big day. And who doesn’t love a bouquet of flowers in May?
But there’s so much more at stake. This year, I’ve been telling my kids about Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis. The tears burn in my eyes as Ispeak the words of Julia Ward Howe, written in 1870 but alarmingly relevanttoday: “From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with ourown: it says “Disarm. Disarm.”
Happy Mother’s
Day.
—Nanci Olesen
producer and host, MOMbo: 1990-2007
To hear the Mother's Day Proclamation read aloud by MOMbo contributor Sally Wingert, click here to download the clip from our 4-CD set NOW YOU MOMbo. |
