In 1905, Ann Reeves Jarvis died, which prompted her daughter, Anna Jarvis, to begin a campaign to create an official, national holiday to honor mothers. Over the years, the movement gained attention and popularity in states around America, and in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation citing that the second Sunday of May would be known as, “Mother’s Day.”
Anna’s original aim of Mother’s Day was to be a day dedicated to expressing love and gratitude to mothers, acknowledging the sacrifices mothers make for their family. She believed each individual family should take time to celebrate its own mother, so that women across the country – and little did she know, the world – would feel loved and appreciated in their own families.