By Lacey Johnson

Mother’s Day in the United States is always celebrated on the second Sunday in May. The phrase “second Sunday in May,” and “Mother’s Day” are actually trademarked terms. The placement of the apostrophe in Mother’s Day was also done with a purpose: to make it more individualized and honor each mother as an individual in her own right. Spring was chosen to celebrate Mother’s Day for two reasons : first, it is symbolic of the generations of life and when everything blooms and comes to life, and second, it is the time that America experiences their highest birth rates.

The concept of Mother’s Day was originally imported to the States by Julia Ward Howe sometime after the Civil War in an effort to unite women against war. It was inspired by the British day honoring mothers. Her efforts never became fruitful, however.

Mother’s Day, as we know it in the United States, was created by Anna Jarvis, two years after her mothers’ death, on May 12, 1907. On that day she proceeded to hand out 500 white carnations to every mother present at the Sunday service at Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church. Anna chose to distribute white carnations because they were her mother’s favorite flower and she helped her tend to them in her garden. She believed that white symbolized the purity of a mothers’ love.

Anna felt the need for a day to honor one’s mother because she believed that mothers’ bear the loss of a human life more than anyone else. She is also responsible for the creation of the Mother’s Day International Association. The Mother’s Day International Association was formed on December 12, 1912 in an effort to further the observations of the day throughout the globe. It wasn’t until 1914 that the holiday became nationally recognized, however by 1911 all states at that time actively recognized the day. Ironic as it may sound, Anna Jarvis herself, by the 1920’s, spent her entire life savings and ended up imprisoned for attempting to end Mother’s Day as we know it. She felt that it had become over commercialized.

Now in the 21st Century, thanks in large part to flower companies, white carnations have come to symbolize a mother that has passed while red carnations are a symbol of a mother that is still with us. The original church that Anna celebrated her mother at, Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church, is now the official International Mother’s Day Shrine.

Throughout the country on Mother’s Day, mothers are treated to flowers, cards, and breakfasts in bed. Americans spend $2.6 billion on flowers, $1.53 billion on papering gifts such as pedicures and manicures, and $68 million on greeting cards alone. The second Sunday in May has come to be known as the busiest day of the year for restaurants and the telephone companies record their highest levels of traffic on this day. The American flag is to be displayed “on government buildings and at people’s homes” as public expression of our love and devotion to the mothers of this country.

“Happy Mother’s Day!”