The founder of Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, grew to despise the holiday that she created about a century ago.
Jarvis, who was born in 1864, essentially created the holiday on May 10, 1908, three years after her mother’s death. She created the day to honor her mother and mothers everywhere.
Later, she set out on a campaign to make it a holiday, writing to a number of business executives, politicians, and church groups about its significance.
Mother’s Day was made a national holiday in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson.
Jarvis later struggled against the commercialization of the holiday. The symbol she used, the white carnation, became commercialized.
