KK Covers

The Mothers of America stamp FDC May 2, 1934 (Washington, D.C)

In its present form, Mother's Day was established by Anna Marie Jarvis, following the death of her mother on May 9, 1905; she made the first official celebration in 1908 and then she campaigned to establish Mother's Day as a U.S. national holiday, and later as an international holiday.

Originally the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of the original Mother's Day commemoration, where Anna handed out carnations, the International Mother's Day Shrine is now a National Historic Landmark. From there, the custom caught on—spreading eventually to 46 states.

The holiday was declared officially by some states as early as 1912, beginning with West Virginia. On May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made that proclamation, declaring the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.