The Tragic History of Mother's Day - Anna Jarvis

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Episode Transcript

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Today's episode is sponsored by better Help. One of the best things about better
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You can get ten percent off yourfirst month of professional therapy at betterhelp dot
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better Help for sponsoring this episode.To all the mothers of the world,

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I wish you a happy late Mother'sDay. We all owe so much to
our mothers and it's a wonderful sentimentto acknowledge the many sacrifices a mother makes
for her children. But do wereally know where Mother's Day comes from?
Have you ever wondered? Buckle up, because the history of the holiday known
for floral arrangements and pastel greeting cards, has its origins and war, death,

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legal battles, and sanatoriums. Myname is Josh and this is obscure
history. There are few events inAmerican history as monumental as the Civil War.

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It is a reminder of the seismicgrowth of our nation, growing pains
that pulled at the seams of ourcountry, ripping and tearing family trees apart,
brothers against brothers, kinfolk against kinfolk. It should be recognized as a
truly unprecedented time, even as welook back from our own unprecedented time,

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and the trauma of the war extendsbeyond the political and historical implications. The
sheer brutality of the conditions the soldiersfaced in the new and devastating weaponry they
endured is shocking even still. Butdon't take my word for it. The
voices from the past inform us ingreater detail than I ever could. According
to Lieutenant Frederick Hitchcock, a memberof the one hundred thirty second Pennsylvania Volunteers,

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who witnessed the bloodiest day of battlein the entire war. We moved,
as I thought, rather leisurely,for upwards of two miles, crossing
Antium Creek, which our men waited, nearly waist deep, emerging, of
course, soaked through our first experienceof this kind. It was a hot
morning, and therefore the only illeffect of this waiting was the discomfort to

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the men of marching with soaked feet. It was now quite event that a
great battle was in progress. Adeafening pandemonium of cannonading and shrieking and bursting
shells filled the air beyond us,towards which we were marching. An occasional
shell whizzed by or over, remindingus that we were rapidly approaching the debatable

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ground. Soon we began to heara most ominous sound which we had never
before heard except in the far distanceat South Mountain, namely the rattle of
musketry. It had none of thedeafening bluster of the cannonading, so terrifiing
to new troops, but to thosewho had once experienced its effects, it
was infinitely more to be dreaded.These volleys of musketry were approaching, sounded

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in the distance, like the rapidpouring of a shot upon a tin pan,
or the tearing of heavy canvas withslight pauses interspersed with single shots or
desipoy shooting. All this persaged fearfulwork in store for us, with what
results to each personally in the future, measured probably by moments, would reveal

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how does one feel under such conditions. To tell the truth, I realized
the situation most keenly and felt veryuncomfortable. Lest there might be some undue
manifestation of this feeling on my conduct, I said to myself, this is
the duty I undertook to perform formy country, and now I'll do it
and believe the results of God.My greater fear was not that I might

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be killed, but that I mightbe grievously wounded and left a victim suffering
on the field. The nervous strainwas plainly visible upon all of us.
All moved doggedly forward in obedience toorders, and absolute silence so far as
talking was concerned. The compressed lipand set teeth showed that nerve and resolution

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had been summoned to the discharge ofduty. A few temporarily fell out,
unable to endure the nervous strain.The war imprinted lasting trauma on every American
in some way, and that legacyof trauma is still tangible today. But
out of this sorrow and bloodshed therecame gleaming rays of hope. Most obviously,

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the results of the Civil War solidifiedthat once and for all, our
nation would be united, for betteror worse, in sickness and in health.
Second, the victory of the Unionpaved the way for every American to
have their voice heard and to strivefor the American dream of freedom, prosperity,
and happiness. Though it would takemore time and effort to see that

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vision of America come to fruition.Less obviously, it gave our nation a
chance to heal deep divisions between itspeople. Obviously, not every division was
healed. But after the dust hadsettled and the blood cleared from the pastures
of our Atlantic coast, small groupsof hopeful Americans set about the difficult work
of reuniting a once divided land.Surprisingly, one of those efforts would have

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unexpected and far reaching ramifications. AnneMarie Reeves Jarvis was born in Culpepper,
Virginia, on September thirtieth, eighteenthirty two. As woman in the early
nineteenth century, she understood all toowell the difficulties of her era. On
top of witnessing the Civil War inits bloodiest and most disputed state, she

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also felt the pain of losing childrendue to poor healthcare and unsanitary conditions.
It is estimated that Anne Jarvis gavebirth to as many as thirteen children,
though only four would survive into adulthood. As a woman of action and dynamic
leadership, this personal loss prompted herto start various clubs throughout West Virginia,

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where she would eventually live. Inthese clubs, she fought to improve the
conditions of her fellow women and theirchildren. According to the West Virginia State
Archives, Jarvis organized a series ofMother's Day Work clubs in Webster, Grafton,
Fetterman, Prunty Town, and Philippito improve health and sanitary conditions.

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Among other services, the clubs raisedmoney for medicine, hired women to work
for families in which the mothers sufferedfrom tuberculosis, and inspected bottled milk and
food. In eighteen sixty local doctorssupported the formations of clubs in other towns.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad made TaylorCounty a strategic site during the Civil

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War. Anne Jarvis urged the Mother'sDay Work Clubs to declare their neutrality and
provide relief to both Union and Confederatesoldiers. The clubs treated the wounded and
regularly fed and clothed soldiers stationed inthe area. Jarvis also managed to preserve
an element of peace in a communitybeing torn apart by political differences during the

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war. She worked tirelessly despite thepersonal tragedy of losing her children. Near
the end of the war, theJarvis family moved to the larger town of
Grafton. Tensions increased as both Unionand Confederate soldiers returned at war's end.
In the summer of eighteen sixty five, Anne Jarvis organized a Mother's Friendship Day
at the court House in Prunty Townto bring together soldiers and neighbors of all

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political beliefs. The event was agreat success, despite the fear of many
that it would erupt in violence.Mother's Friendship Day was an annual event for
several years in a place and timefull of intense turmoil. Anne Jarvis was
a beacon of light, a peacekeeper. She was so well respected that she

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was involved in the oversight of theconstruction of the Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton.
This in and of itself, isan impressive legacy. She saw a
need in her corner of the worldand devoted her life to meeting it.
We should all strive for the same. And when she died in nineteen oh
five, her daughter Anna held amodest service in her honor at Andrew's Methodist

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Church. Little did she know butthis would be just the beginning of her
mother's legacy and the beginning of herown downfall. But before we get to
the drama, we do need topay the bills. If you want ad
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(09:52):
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free and I would love to seeyou there. Hang tight for about ninety
seconds and we'll be right back.Anna Jarvis, Anne Jarvis's daughter, was
encouraged by her mother to attend collegeat Mary Baldwin University. She proved to

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be a successful student and ambitious businesswoman. After her uncle, doctor James Edmund
Reeves, persuaded her to move toChattanooga, Tennessee, Jarvis worked there as
a bank teller for a year.The following year, Jarvis again moved,
this time to live with her brotherin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in spite of
her mother's urging to return to Grafton. Jarvis was successful in Pennsylvania, taking

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a position at Fidelity Mutual Life InsuranceCompany, where she became the agency's first
female literary and advertising editor. Despitekeeping a very busy schedule in her various
business endeavors, she maintained very closecorrespondence with her mother. When Anne's health
began to decline, she moved toPhiladelphia, where Anna took care of her
until her death. After her death, Anna arranged the unexpectedly consequential memorial at

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Andrew's Methodist Church, and after thememorial, she became the torch bearer of
her mother's legacy. On May tenth, nineteen o eight, three years after
her mother's death, Jarvis held amemorial ceremony to honor her mother and all
mothers at Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church,which is marked today as the International Mother's
Day Shrine. Anne didn't attend theservice, but she did send words of

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encouragement and approval along with five hundredwhite carnations. She also delivered a rousing
speech near her home in Philadelphia extollingthe value of motherhood. The celebration of
motherhood began catching on, and it'seasy to see why everyone feels sentimental about
their mom or at least the vastmajority of people do so. The holiday

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was relevant to almost everyone. Itwas also easily commodifiable, as Jarvis's white
carnations became an integral part of Mother'sDay festivities countrywide, and as such,
the celebration became commercialized and profitable.In fact, by the nineteen twenties,
in addition to the holiday becoming federallyrecognized, the floral industry continued increasing prices

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of white carnations and then introduced redcarnations to meet the demand for the flower.
Anna Jarvis's original symbols began to becomereappropriated, such as the red carnation
representing living mothers in the white carnationhonoring deceased ones. To combat the commercialization
of the holiday she held so closeto her heart, Jarvis attempted to create

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a new piece of Mother's Day traditionby creating a badge with a Mother's Day
emblem, something that would be morepersonal and more sentimental. But those efforts
were quickly adopted by printing companies,where mass market Mother's Day cards were immediately
adopted as an essential part of thecelebration. Anne Jarvis was very publicly opposed
to this commercialization of her Mother's Day. As she recalled an abiding criticism,

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a printed card means nothing except thatyou are too lazy to write the woman
who has done more for you thananyone in the world. And candy you
take a box to mother than eatmost of it yourself, A pretty sentiment.
The corruption of Mother's Day affected Jarvisso much that she went on the
offensive. She began petitioning and takingoffensive legal action wherever she could think to

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do so. However, the variouslegal battles left her in debt, and
she, despite founding a million dollarholiday, was not profiting from her own
creation. She didn't stop, though, continuing to fight for her beliefs well
into her seventies. Jarvis never married, and in her later years moved in
with her sister. Her final attemptto defend her mother's honor came when she

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tried to file an official petition toremove the holiday from federal recognition. Shortly
afterwards, she was detained in MarshallSquare Sanatorium in Westchester, Pennsylvania, where
she would eventually die. But maybeyou've been paying close attention to the story.
Maybe you're wondering how a nearly eightyyear old woman who was completely financially

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destitute could pay for boarding at thesanatorium. She didn't pay for it,
and neither did her sister. Theanswer may shock you, but in a
spot for NPR Olive Rickett's director ofthe Anna Jarvis Museum, noted that by
nineteen forty three, she had becomeso distraught over the fact that she couldn't

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seem to stop any of the commercialization, so she decided to get a petition
together to rescind Mother's Day. Butthey placed her in the Marshall Square Sanatorium
instead. And they put her there, and you wonder who paid the bill?
Card and florist people paid the billto keep her there. The woman
who founded Mother's Day to honor thelegacy of her incredible mother died childless,

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penniless, and alone in a sanatorium, all because of her dedication to the
honor of her mother. Her outspokenpolitical beliefs kept potential suitors away, her
various legal battles leached her savings untilonly a bear skeleton remained, and the
threat that she posed to various corporateinterests locked her up and threw away the
key. So next year, whenMay rolls around on the calendar, remember

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that that one special day we dedicateto mothers as a checkered past marred with
bloodshed, betrayal, and some alltoo recognizable American greed. Hey, everybody,

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thank you so much for listening.I sincerely appreciate all of you.
I'm sorry that the episode is late. I went out of town to visit
my mother, and when I gotback, I was not feeling very well,
and so I'm a little bit slowto get this one out. It's
also a bit short. I apologizefor that also, sort of kind of

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sometimes a story is better left alittle bit short, because if I blather
on too much, I might losethe plot and you probably wouldn't want that
anyways. I also apologize to subscribers. As I was very feeling not very
well, I did not get bonuscontent out for this episode. I apologize.

(16:23):
Next week, I'll be super preparedand I'll have something very fun for
you guys. I appreciate you all. Check out my friends Greg at Indie
drop In Network and Ril at yourBuds Podcast Collective. They are two of
the best people in the industry andI appreciate them a ton. You should
check out their products. They willhelp you find your next second favorite show.

(16:45):
Until next week, thank you somuch. I appreciate you all.