How Mother's Day Started

Mother's Day Fact of Life

Anna Jarvis, a school teacher and daughter of a Methodist minister, wanted a way to honor her mother after she died in 1905.

She decided a special day to honor all mothers would be a good way, so she launched a letter-writing campaign to tell influential people, including the president, about her plans for Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day became nationally observed under President Woodrow Wilson in 1914.