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Anna Jarvis

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The Resume

    (May 1, 1864-November 24, 1948)
    Birth name is Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis
    Holiday Founded in Grafton, West Virginia
    Mother's Day (May 13th) Holiday Started in her Honor

Why she might be annoying:

    Some historians confuse the holiday of Mother's Day and claim it emerged from the ancient festivals dedicated to the Mother Goddess, due to worshipping in ancient Greek and England's worshipping or 'Mothering Sunday' a.k.a 'Mid-Lent-Sunday. However, none were meant as current Mother's Day celebrations in the United States.
    She had to move around a lot.
    Her husband died in 1902, leaving her a widow.
    She had to move again and live with her son and two daughters when her beloved husband died.
    Her daughter professed regrets later at having started Mother's Day in her honor when it seemed to become a holiday of commercial greed and gifts.
    Her daughter filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day festival and was once arrested for disturbing the peace.
    Her daughter started the day because she was devastated by her loss then tried to end the holiday she started, never married and never became a Mother herself.

Why she might not be annoying:

    The creation of Mother's Day as a national holiday, by her daughter Anna, was inspired by her work with women's organizations.
    She organized a series of 'Mother's Day Work Clubs' in various counties where they raised money for medicine, aided families whose Mother's suffered from TB and did bottled milk and food inspections.
    Local doctors supported her formation of clubs in other towns (1860).
    She and her husband Granville E. Jarvis moved to Webster county Taylor West Virginia, where the B & O Railroad declared a strategic site during the Civil War in which Jarvis urged her clubs to profess neutrality by helping Union and Confederate soldiers.
    She was able to preserve a spark of peace in a torn community.
    The 'Mothers' Friendship Day' she organized at the courthouse in Pruntytown to bring together soldiers and neighbors of all political beliefs was successful, making the day an annual event for several years to follow.
    She taught Sunday School for twenty-five years, where her daughter, Anna, remembered her Mother once saying: 'I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers.'
    Her daughter Anna held a small tribute to her at Andrews Methodist Church (May 12, 1907) and dedicated her life to establishing a nationally recognized Mother's Day. The first official Mother's Day ceremonies were held a year later.
    Former President Woodrow Wilson signed a Congressional Resolution six years later, setting aside Mother's Day as a national holiday to be celebrated on the second Sunday in May.
    Her daughter passed out carnations, her favorite flower, at her favorite church in West Virgina, which started the white carnation being a symbol for Mother's Day.
    People continue to honor their Mothers', especially on this day, even though her daughter eventually tried to stop what she started.
    Telephone companies have the highest traffic on their lines on this day.

Credit: Skunk Butt


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 15 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 36.36% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 29 Votes: 65.52% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 24 Votes: 29.17% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 23 Votes: 56.52% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 63 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 96 Votes: 47.92% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 174 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2004, Out of 242 Votes: 41.74% Annoying
    In 2003, Out of 521 Votes: 56.05% Annoying
    In 2002, Out of 819 Votes: 40.78% Annoying