Why we celebrate Mother’s Day for more than 100 years: the history of the holiday

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Anastasia Koropetska Every year, Mother’s Day is celebrated in Ukraine on the second Sunday of May. In 2023, this holiday falls on May 14. Mother’s Day is celebrated throughout the year on different dates in most countries of the world. Traditionally, children greet their mothers with flowers, cards and warm words. Marta Bogachevska-Khomyak, professor of history and researcher of the women’s movement and social processes in Galicia in the 19th century, helped “Ukrainian Pravda” find out more about the history and significance of this day. History of the Mother’s Day The beginning of the formation of this day in the world dates back to the 20th century. Before that, several American activists tried to start Mother’s Day, but these initiatives did not receive publicity, and the holiday was never fixed in the calendars. Photo: lacheev/Depositphotos In the 19th century, activist Ann Jarvis Reeves gave birth to 13 children with her husband, of whom only four survived. Children died due to disease and unsanitary conditions that contributed to the spread of epidemics. During her life, Ann Jarvis fought against unsanitary conditions, engaged in educational activities and provided assistance to reduce infant mortality. Later, the activist organized Mother’s Day in workers’ clubs to once again contribute to the improvement of sanitary standards. In the clubs started by her, funds were collected for the purchase of medicines and payment for the services of assistants in families where mothers had serious health problems. After Ann’s death, her daughter Anna in 1907 founded a holiday that the world has been celebrating for over 100 years – Mother’s Day. On this day, Jarvis wanted to honor the memory of her mother and her work. The story of Anna Jarvis is described in her book by Catherine Lane Antolini, an assistant professor of history from West Virginia. Hundreds of letters to government agencies and Jarvis’s persistence paid off, she said. Already in 1914, then US President Woodrow Wilson announced that from now on the second Sunday in May would become a national holiday in honor of all American mothers. Jarvis spent decades promoting Mother’s Day while defending the holiday from commercialization. “In America, this holiday has really been made very commercial,” emphasizes history professor Marta Khomyak. . Mother’s Day in Ukraine Photo: IgorVetushko/Depositphotos According to the presidential decree of 1999, Mother’s Day is celebrated in Ukraine every year on the second Sunday of May. The initiators of the introduction and revival of Mother’s Day in Ukraine were members of the “Union of Ukrainian Women” from Galicia. In the 1930s, they organized concerts, conferences, festivals, where they discussed the role of motherhood in the world, and also wrote articles for Ukrainian and international newspapers. In 1939, Mother’s Day was abolished in the USSR. Ukrainians have been fighting for the restoration of the holiday in Ukraine for more than half a century. “During the gray life of the Soviet Union, Ukraine needed holidays that would emphasize not statehood and the government, but the existence of some other, native environment,” says Bogachevska-Khomyak. The efforts of the “Union of Ukrainian Women”, the international organization “Women’s Community”, the Union of Women of Ukraine returned this holiday to Ukraine at the state level in 1999. May was chosen deliberately: in the Christian faith, it is the month of the Holy Mother of God, and the Catholic Church dedicates it to the Virgin Mary. The role of motherhood in the modern world However, this holiday has been criticized a lot. Discussions about its international significance are still ongoing, the professor of history adds. “This day is too intimate to be a holiday. We in the family celebrate it like a birthday, it is important for us. But I always look at those women who for one reason or another did not have children. And this the holiday is like a “day for blondes”. And what should brown-haired girls do at that time?”, she says. The role of the mother in society is changing every minute. As Katherine Antolini writes in her book, the founder of Mother’s Day, Jervis, invested in this holiday the very importance of the mother in the home, her role in managing the economy and raising children. Now this day should become a springboard for public discussions about the role of motherhood in the modern world, assures Bogachevska-Khomyak. Photo: AllaSerebrina/Depositphotos “This is a holiday that brings joy to some people, and sadness to others. Russia is waging a very cruel war in Ukraine, in which thousands of mothers have lost their children. We need understanding, discussion here, and not trying to level the whole society what the Russians should do or what the Germans tried to do,” emphasizes the professor of history. In the American church, flowers are distributed on this day: white if the mother is dead and red if the mother is alive. At these moments, someone always starts to cry, because they forgot that such a holiday was and did not send flowers to their mother or did not come to the grave. Remember, you need to talk about gratitude and love to mothers more often than once a year. However, Mother’s Day is an annual spring reminder of how important the role of mothers is in the world and how much respect they deserve. Anastasia Koropetska, specially for UP. Life Read also: She ran to the shelter 2 hours after giving birth. Three stories of motherhood in the conditions of war

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