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Origin of Mother's Day | Why do we celebrate Mother's Day?

Mother's Day is a holiday honoring motherhood that is observed in different forms throughout the world. The American incarnation of Mother's Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Mother's Day falls on Sunday, May 8, this year. It may surprise you to know that celebrations honoring mothers are ancient traditions, not a Hallmark invention.

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The official Mother's Day holiday arose in the 1900s as a result of the efforts of Anna Jarvis, daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Following her mother's 1905 death, Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother's Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children. The present-day celebration of Mother's Day began in the year 1908 when Anna Jarvis organized a memorial for her mother, Ann Jarvis, a peace activist who used to care the wounded soldiers of the American Civil War. The event was held at the St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, which currently holds the International Mother's Day Shrine.