Mother’s Day

More Than Flowers and Brunch: The Real History of Mother's Day

Every second Sunday in May, florists sell out, restaurants fill up, and greeting card aisles get picked clean. It's a warm tradition, and there is nothing wrong with any of it. But the history behind this holiday is far more complicated — and far more powerful — than most people realize.

It Started as Activism

Mother's Day didn't begin with brunch. In the 1850s, activist Ann Reeves Jarvis organized "Mothers' Day Work Clubs" in West Virginia, bringing together mothers from both sides of the Civil War to care for wounded soldiers and push for community health reform. After the war, Julia Ward Howe issued her Mother's Day Proclamation in 1870 — a radical anti-war document calling on mothers to refuse to send their sons off to fight in wars started by men in power.

This is where Mother's Day began: not in a gift shop, but in grief, solidarity, and the belief that mothers had a moral responsibility to demand a better world.

How It Became a Holiday — and Then a Product

Ann Reeves Jarvis's daughter, Anna Jarvis, spent years campaigning for an official holiday in her mother's honor. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law. Anna's vision was intimate — handwritten letters, personal visits, a white carnation in memory of her mother.

Within just a few years, it had been swallowed whole by commercial interests. Florists, candy companies, and greeting card manufacturers saw the opportunity and seized it. Anna Jarvis was furious. She called the commercialization "a charlatanism, a fraud, and a desecration," disrupted industry events, and was arrested multiple times protesting the holiday she had created. She died in 1948, penniless — her bills reportedly paid by the very flower and card industries she had spent her life condemning.

It's Complicated for a Reason

For many people, Mother's Day isn't simple. For those who have lost their mothers, it brings grief. For those with painful or estranged family relationships, the pressure to celebrate can feel alienating. For women navigating infertility or loss, it can be one of the hardest days of the year.

None of this means we shouldn't celebrate. It means we should celebrate with a little more awareness — and a little more kindness toward the people around us who might be quietly struggling.

The Bottom Line

Buy the flowers. Take her to brunch. Tell her you love her. These are beautiful things and they matter. But maybe also hold in mind that this holiday was born from women who believed that honoring mothers meant fighting for a more just and peaceful world — not just one Sunday a year, but every day.

And if you really want to do it right? Write the letter by hand.