Mother's Day Trivia & Interesting Facts

• Anna Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days in 1858. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.

• Jarvis' daughter, also named Anna Jarvis, would, of course, have known of her mother's work, and the work of Howe. Much later, when her mother died, this second Anna Jarvis started her own crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908, in the church where the elder Anna Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Grafton is the home to the International Mother's Day Shrine. From there, the custom caught on — spreading eventually to 45 states.

• Finally the holiday was declared officially by states beginning in 1912, and in 1914 the President, Woodrow Wilson, declared the first national Mother's Day.

• Mother's Day is a busy time of year for mail in many countries. In 1973, the U.S. Postal Service was held up for eight days because of the number of letters and cards.

• Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent (typically March or early April); it is commonly called "Mother's Day" but has no direct connection to the American practice. It is believed to have originated from the Christian practice of visiting ones mother church annually, this meant that most families would be reunited on this day. Most historians believe that young apprentices and young women in servitude were released by their masters that weekend in order to visit their families.