This week in Christian history: First Mother’s Day service, Martin Luther’s books burned, Wisconsin v. Yoder
First Mother’s Day observance — May 10, 1908
This week marks the anniversary of the first formal Mother’s Day celebration in the United States, held at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia.
Anna Maria Jarvis was the woman behind the observance, being inspired in part by her late mother’s activism to create public health projects known as Mothers’ Day Work Clubs.
While Jarvis was unable to attend the service due to hosting a separate Mother’s Day celebration at a department store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jarvis sent the church 500 white carnations.
Mother’s Day would become a national holiday in 1914. Despite lobbying for the observance, Jarvis eventually disowned it, believing it had become too commercialized.
