Anna Maria Jarvis (May 1, 1864 – November 24, 1948) was the founder of Mother’s Day in the United States. Her mother had frequently expressed a desire for the establishment of such a holiday, and after her mother’s death, Jarvis led the movement for the commemoration. However, as the years passed, Jarvis grew disenchanted with the growing commercialization of the observation (she herself did not profit from the day) and even attempted to have Mother’s Day rescinded. She died in a sanitarium, her medical bills paid by people in the floral and greeting card industries.
. . . Anna Jarvis . . .
Anna Maria Jarvis was born to Granville E. and Ann Maria (née Reeves) Jarvis on May 1, 1864, in Webster, Taylor County, West Virginia, the ninth of eleven children. Seven of her siblings died in infancy or early childhood.[1][2][3] Her birthplace, today known as the Anna Jarvis House, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979.[1] The family moved to Grafton, West Virginia, also in Taylor County, later in her childhood.[4]
Ann Reeves Jarvis was a social activist, founder of Mothers’ Day Work Clubs.[5] As a woman defined by her faith, she was very active within the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church community. It was during one of her Sunday school lessons in 1876 that her daughter, Anna Jarvis, allegedly found her inspiration for Mother’s Day, as Ann closed her lesson with a prayer, stating:
I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mothers day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.
— Ann Reeves Jarvis[6]
At the encouragement of her mother, Anna Jarvis attended college and was awarded a diploma for the completion of two years of course work at the Augusta Female Seminary in Staunton, Virginia, today known as Mary Baldwin University.[7] Jarvis returned to Grafton to work in the public school system, additionally joining her mother as an active church member, maintaining a close link to her mother.[7]
After her uncle, Dr. James Edmund Reeves, persuaded her to move to Chattanooga, Tennessee, Jarvis worked there as a bank teller for a year.[8] The following year, Jarvis again moved, this time to live with her brother in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in spite of her mother’s urging to return to Grafton.[9] Jarvis was successful in Philadelphia, taking a position at Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company, where she became the agency’s first female literary and advertising editor. Another accomplishment was becoming a shareholder in the Quaker City Cab Company, her brother’s business.[9]
Even while she was away from Grafton, Anna Jarvis maintained a close correspondence with her mother. Ann Reeves Jarvis was proud of her daughter’s achievements and the letters themselves served to keep mother and daughter closely linked.[10] After the death of Jarvis’ father, Granville, in 1902, she urged her mother to move to Philadelphia to stay with her and her brother.[11] Both brother and sister worried about their mother’s health and Ann Reeves Jarvis ultimately agreed to move to Philadelphia in 1904 when her heart problems necessitated it.[11] Jarvis spent the majority of her time taking care of her mother as Ann Reeves Jarvis’ health declined. She died on May 9, 1905. [12]
. . . Anna Jarvis . . .