14 Facts About Anna Jarvis

Anna Maria Jarvis was the founder of Mother's Day in the United States.

Anna Jarvis's mother had frequently expressed a desire to establish such a holiday, and after her mother's death, Jarvis led the movement for the commemoration.

However, as the years passed, Jarvis grew disenchanted with the growing commercialization of the observation and even attempted to have Mother's Day rescinded.

Anna Maria Jarvis was born to Granville E and Ann Maria Jarvis on May 1,1864, in Webster, Taylor County, West Virginia, the ninth of eleven children.

Ann Reeves Anna Jarvis was a social activist and founder of Mothers' Day Work Clubs.

Anna Jarvis returned to Grafton to work in the public school system, additionally joining her mother as an active church member, maintaining a close link to her mother.

Anna Jarvis was successful in Philadelphia, taking a position at Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company, where she became the agency's first female literary and advertising editor.

Ann Reeves Anna Jarvis was proud of her daughter's achievements, and the letters kept mother and daughter closely linked.

Anna Jarvis spent most of her time caring for her mother as Ann Reeves Anna Jarvis' health declined.

On May 10,1908, three years after her mother's death, Anna Jarvis held a memorial ceremony to honor her mother and all mothers at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, today the International Mother's Day Shrine, in Grafton, West Virginia, marking the first official observance of Mother's Day.

Anna Jarvis valued the symbolism of such tangible items as the white carnation emblem, which she described as:.

Anna Jarvis frequently referred to her mother's memory during her efforts to maintain the sentimental heart of the day while maintaining her role as the founder of the holiday.

Anna Jarvis attempted to counter these commercial forces, creating a badge with a Mother's Day emblem as a less ephemeral alternative to the white carnation.

Anna Jarvis died on November 24,1948, and was buried next to her mother, sister, and brother at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.