Mother’s Day: What is the origin of the date?

Mother’s Day: What is the origin of the date?


Mother’s Day was first made official in the United States in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson. In Brazil the date began to be officially celebrated in 1932.

Celebrated annually on the second Sunday in May, Mother’s Day takes place this weekend. The date is the second most important in the calendar of retailers in Brazilsecond only to Christmas. Although he has driven national trade, he was not born with this purpose.




How did Mother’s Day come about?

The celebration was born in WEdue to an insistent campaign carried out by the activist Anna Jarvis. She had lost her mother in 1905 and, three years later, paid homage to her, unofficially. Since then, she began sending letters to American congressmen, governors and celebrities asking for the establishment of a holiday, “Mother’s Day”.

After the American Civil War (1861-1865), Ann and a group of mothers also started the business “Mother’s Friendship Day” (Mother’s Day for Friendship). This day aimed to promote reconciliation and celebrate peace between families divided during the conflict.

Ann Jarvis’ legacy continued after her death on May 9, 1905. Three years later, in 1908, her daughter Anna organized a memorial in her honor, an event that marked the first official Mother’s Day. Anna Jarvis later devoted herself intensely to campaigning for national recognition of the date, although she later criticized the increasing commercialization of the celebration.

Anna’s movement culminated in the official recognition of Mother’s Day by the state of West Virginia in 1910. The campaign gained momentum nationwide, and in 1914 the United States Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, made official by President Woodrow Wilson.

Date celebration in Brazil

According to historians, the first celebration of Mother’s Day in Brazil dates back to 1918, by members of the Christian Youth Association of Porto Alegreto the Rio Grande do Sul. However, it was only made official a few years later. Only in 1932, the president Getulio Vargas signed the decree establishing the date.

The text says that Mother’s Day was established to celebrate the “feelings and virtues that maternal love helps to awaken and develop in the human heart, contributing to its improvement in the sense of kindness and human solidarity”.

The reason for this was the feminist movement, more specifically the Brazilian Federation for the Advancement of Women. In the same year it became official that Brazilian women gained the right to vote and run for political candidates.

Tributes

As usual, people all over the world celebrate the date by paying homage to their mothers. On social media the celebrations have already begun. The former BBB, Fernanda Bande shared on her Instagram stories the celebration she attended at her daughter’s school Laura.

The singer and actress Anahi, from the band Rebeldes shared the date celebration with their children Emiliano AND Manu.

Check out this photo on Instagram

A post shared by Anahi (@anahi)

* Under the supervision of Lilian Coelho

Source: Terra

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