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Show Learn the real meaning behind Mother's Day Contrary to popular belief. Mother's Mo-ther's Day and Father's Day were not created to boost greeting card sales. These holidays began because their originators believed that Moms and Dads throughout the United States deserved a day of tribute for all the love they give year 'round. The "All-American Mom and Dad Contests," sponsored by the National Frozen Pizza Institute and Woman's World, America's only weekly woman's wom-an's magazine, salute the real meaning mean-ing of these holidays and provide the opportunity for children to give their ' parents a gift that is as valuable today as it was when these days were first originated. Mother's Day Anna M. Jarvis is given credit for making Mother's Day a reality. Her mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis, was her inspiration. Shortly after the Civil War, her mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis of Grafton, West Virginia, organized a group in her hometown to sponsor what she called "Mother's Friendship Day." She envisioned this holiday as a time to reunite families divided dur- ing the Civil War and to "commemorate "com-memorate each mother for the service she renders to humanity in every field." Following her mother's lead, in 1907, on the second anniversary of her mother's death, Anna M. Jarvis of Philadelphia outlined plans for the first Mother's Day. The following year, on the second Sunday in May, ' church services honoring mothers were held in both her mother's hometown, and in Philadelphia, at her own church. For Anna M. Jarvis, this was just the beginning. She worked tirelessly for years, writing hundreds of letters to church and business leaders, lead-ers, newspaper editors, members of Congress and even the President, urging a national observance of a day honoring mothers. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother's Day a national holiday, setting aside the second Sunday Sun-day in May "for displaying the American Ameri-can flag, and as a public expression of our love and reverence of the mothers of our country." |