"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother."
 – Abraham Lincoln

How Mother's Day Began
In the United States, Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day." Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else. In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday School lesson her mother gave, in which she said, "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers." Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen such as John Wannamaker and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out her mother's favorite flower, the white carnation. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914, Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday. (Source: http://www.biography.com/features/mother/ )

Sites About Mothers

100 Moms
Get the life stories of 100 celebrity, rock, athlete, notorious, royal, political, TV, actress, on-air, supermom, animated, and supermodel moms.

What Moms Really Want for Mother's Day
See the results of a poll on what moms really want for Mother's Day – things that won't cost their families anything

"Things My Momma Taught Me
Amusing words of wisdom: My mother taught me ESP..."Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you're cold?" My mother taught me LOGIC..."If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can't go to the store with me."

MyHero.com
Visitors to MyHero.com have identified mothers of all kinds as heroes. Read about famous mothers as well as excerpts from "My Mom is My Hero" essays.

International Mother's Hall of Fame
The International Mother's Hall of Fame provides a formal acknowledgement and foundation for the everlasting love, admiration, appreciation, and recognition of mothers individually and universally around the world.