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5 interesting facts about Mother's Day

5. Rejected by its creator

The creation of Mother's Day is often credited to the efforts of Anna Jarvis, the daughter of 19th century social activist Anna Reeves Jarvis.

Anna Jarvis (1864-1948), the founder of Mother's Day.
Anna Jarvis (1864-1948), the founder of Mother's Day. | Public Domain

Ironically never a mother herself, Anna Jarvis is credited with organizing the first Mother's Day celebration in 1908 at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church of Grafton, West Virginia.

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In 1910, it became a state holiday in West Virginia and, by 1911, was being celebrated in most states. In 1914, it became a national holiday.

Although successful in her campaign to make Mother's Day a national holiday, as time progressed, Jarvis came to reject the observance due to its commercialization.

"While Jarvis had initially worked with the floral industry to help raise Mother's Day's profile, by 1920 she had become disgusted with how the holiday had been commercialized," noted history.com.

"By the time of her death in 1948, Jarvis had disowned the holiday altogether, and even actively lobbied the government to see it removed from the American calendar."

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