HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Early Origins and Peace Advocacy

The roots of Mother's Day in the United States trace back to the 19th century, when women’s peace groups sought to heal divisions caused by wars. Ann Reeves Jarvis, a social activist from West Virginia, organized "Mothers’ Work Clubs" in the 1850s to improve sanitation, reduce infant mortality, and provide health education during typhoid outbreaks TheCollector+1. After the Civil War, she initiated Mother’s Friendship Day in 1868 to reunite families divided by the conflict HISTORY+1.Around the same time, Julia Ward Howe, a poet and abolitionist, advocated for a Mother’s Day for Peace in 1870, urging women to gather annually to promote global peace and prevent war HISTORY+1. Howe’s observances, held in cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, continued for several decades but eventually faded before World War I nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org.