Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
5 facts about mothers and Mother’s Day
5 facts about mothers and Mother’s Day
Aug 30, 2025 8:56 PM

1. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation thatofficially established the first national Mother’s Day holiday to celebrate America’s mothers. Many individual states celebrated Mother’s Day before then, but it was not until Wilson lobbied Congress in 1914 that Mother’s Day was officially set on the second Sunday of every May.

2. President Wilson established Mother’s Day after years of lobbying by themother of the holiday, Anna Marie Jarvis and the World’s Sunday School Association. Anna Jarvis’ mother, Ann Jarvis, had attempted to establish a version of Mother’s Day during the Civil War as a time for remembrance. By the 1920s, though,Anna Jarvis became disgusted by mercialization of the holiday. She incorporated herself as the Mother’s Day International Association, trademarked the phrases “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day”, and was once arrested for disturbing the peace at a Mother’s Day carnation sale. According to herNew York Times obituary, Jarvis became embittered because too many people sent their mothers a printed greeting card. As she said, “A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother—and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment.”

3. Mother’s Day was the most important Sunday on theorganized crime calendar. According to Joe Pistone, an FBI undercover agent, the mafia often closed for business when Mother’s Day arrived each May.

4. Based on the latestCensus figures (2010), 53 percent of 15- to 44-year-old women are mothers. 20 percent had 2 children, 17 percent had one, 10 percent had three, and 5 percent had four or more. There are 5 million stay-at-home moms. In 2012, 24 percent of married-couple family groups with children under 15 had a stay-at-home mother, up from 21 percent in 2000. In 2007, before the recession, stay-at-home mothers were found in 24 percent of married-couple family groups with children under 15, not statistically different from the percentage in 2012. 61 percent of women age 16 to 50 who had a birth in the past 12 months were in the labor force.

5. Five mothers are mentioned by name in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17): Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
3 Myths About Capitalism
What is capitalism? Why is it controversial? Dr. Jeffrey Miron from Harvard University breaks down 3 myths of Capitalism. ...
Man Is Not the Measure: Whittaker Chambers on Tyson’s ‘Rationalia’
“Men have never been so educated, but wisdom, even as an idea, has conspicuously vanished from the world.” –Whittaker Chambers The vain self-confidence of high-minded planners and politicians has caused great harm throughout human history, much of it done in the name of “reason” and “science” and “progress.” In an information age such as ours, the technocratic temptation is stronger than ever. As the Tower of Babel confirms, we have always had a disposition to think we can know more...
God and Man in the Age of Trump
If a classic, as Mark Twain claimed, is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read, then William F. Buckley, Jr.’s God and Man at Yale is the epitome of a conservative classic. Few who have read it (and they are indeed few) would dispute its importance to the founding of modern conservatism. As the historian George Nash said, God and Man was “probably the most controversial book in the history of conservatism since 1945 and...
Who is Theresa May?
A true feminist, a devout Christian, and a leader mon sense will soon move into 10 Downing Street. As excitement—and dismay—surrounded Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, Remainer and (former) prime minister, David Cameron announced his resignation from British parliament’s highest position. Today he officially leaves office, allowing Theresa May to e the next British Prime Minister. Originally, Cameron planned to wait until October to pass the torch to the next leader, but on Monday he stated that, “we...
Government Fees That Perpetuate Poverty
The Atlantic magazine published an article on July 5, 2016 highlighting the growing problems in Louisiana with legal financial obligations (LFOs) and their effect on poor defendants and the recently incarcerated. Former prisoners usually have a hard time finding a stable e post incarceration and LFOs often require former prisoners to pay thousands of dollars upon release. The average amount in the state of Washington is $1,347, with interest rates that make the debt increase over time. One woman the...
Unemployment for Black Male Teens Spikes. Are Minimum Wage Increases to Blame?
The most recent jobs report appeared to present a positive impression of our current employment situation. As the New York Times headline read, “Jobs Roar Back With Gain of 287,000 in June, Easing Worry.” Of course whether it eased your worry or not largely depended on whether or not you’re a young African American man. For black male teens (aged 16-19 years), the jobless rate dramatically spiked to 40.1 percent in June from 28.1 percent in May. As Mark J....
Pokémon GO is the Sweet, Successful Fruit of Failure
In a weekend, Pokémon GO has already taken our smartphones by storm. But where did e from? On the one hand, this is a simple question to answer: Nintendo. Pokémon is a game franchise created by Nintendo, and Pokémon GO is the newest installment. But Pokémon GO isn’t just more of the same. It’s a revolutionary innovation. Using the camera function on people’s phones, the world of the game is our world. The eponymous monsters appear on the screen as...
Pokémon Go, community, and spontaneous order
The long awaited augmented reality mobile gamePokémon Go, based on the long running video game franchise, was released in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand late last week. The game allows players to find and capturePokémon, like the famous Pikachu, in the real world as they walk around streets and parks throughout their cities. While the game is an entertaining diversion, it serves as a catalyst for something greater.WithPokémon Go, a beautiful emergent order munity has already started. Neighbors...
Don Quixote, Pioneer of Religious Freedom
The Spanish novelist Cervantes wrote his famous tale about a knight-errant almost 200 years before the the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted. But as Eric C. Graf, Professor of Literature at Universidad Francisco Marroquín, explains, Don Quixote paved the way for freedom of religious conscience by championing the freedom to think or believe what you want in your head. ...
How Evangelicals Became GOP Culture War Soldiers
Evangelicalism historically has always been embroiled in political and social movements in the West. Because of the effective reach church leaders have in reaching the masses in past history, politicians take particular interest in the church during political campaigns. Donald Trump’s new found interest in evangelicalism, then, makes historical sense. Winning over evangelicals could translate into votes. In fact, in the post-Nixon era evangelicals were very useful tools in the growth of the GOP as some Christian leaders unintentionally sold...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved