[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [SRRTAC-L:16487] RE: Mothers Day-WV version

[Al Kagan]

One more

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Yvonne Farley" <yfarley at hotmail.com>
> Date: May 8, 2005 2:37:00 PM CDT
> To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l at ala.org>
> Subject: [SRRTAC-L:16487] RE: Mothers Day-WV version
> Reply-To: srrtac-l at ala.org
>
> The earliest observation of Mother's Day wasn't driven by devotion to 
> mothers, but rather by mothers themselves.
>
> The first manifestation of Mother's Day was called "Mothers' Work 
> Day", a movement begun in 1858 by Appalachian homemaker Anna Jarvis. 
> Anna, the mother of eleven children, only four of whom survived beyond 
> early childhood, was determined to improve community hygiene in a time 
> when poor sanitation resulted in an extremely high mortality rate 
> among children under the age of five years old. She engaged physicians 
> in teaching women the science of sanitation, disinfection and proper 
> food preparation in a series of seminars, and then dispersed women 
> into the community to teach others.
>
> Later in 1861, when Anna Jarvis' community became an armed camp of 
> both the Union and Confederates, she declared a "Mothers' Friendship 
> Day," advising both sides that the women of her community would not 
> engage against or for either side, but would maintain friendship and 
> goodwill equally with all soldiers.
>
> When an epidemic of typhoid fever broke out among the soldiers of both 
> camps, the women were prepared with their training in sanitation and 
> disinfection, and were trusted by both the Blue and the Gray. Then, 
> when the war was over, public officials relied on the universal 
> goodwill toward the women of the "Mothers' Friendship Day" movement to 
> assist the community in the peacemaking process.
>
> Inspired by Anna Jarvis and the mothers of her West Virginian 
> community, suffragette Julia Ward Howe announced a "Mother's Peace 
> Day" in 1870. Julia Ward Howe was a noted activist by that time, and 
> author of the lyrics to the "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." As a 
> Unitarian, she believed that the two most important causes in the 
> world were peace and equality, and it was her intention that Mother's 
> Day inspire women to cross national, cultural and religious divides to 
> find peaceful resolutions to conflicts. She issued a Declaration, 
> hoping to gather women in an international congress of action.
>
> Julia Ward Howe devised the effort to launch an official Mother's Day 
> as an endeavor for peace, encouraging mothers to rally politically, 
> socially and economically. She believed that mothers bore the loss of 
> human life more harshly and intimately than anyone else and placed the 
> responsibility for the peace effort on mothers.
>
> Eventually, the Mother's Day custom spread across the United States. 
> Greatly due to the efforts of Anna Jarvis' daughter - also named Anna 
> Jarvis - the holiday was officially recognized in 1914 when President 
> Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day.
>
> Unfortunately, the founding ideal of the day - and the imperative for 
> action - was overtaken by the commercial celebration of mothers. With 
> the gift-giving activity associated with Mother's Day - in tandem with 
> the forsaking of the tradition of service to life, equality and peace 
> activism - Anna Jarvis became enraged.
>
> She believed that the day's sentiment was "sacrificed at the altar of 
> greed and profit," as she alleged in her 1923 lawsuit to stop a 
> Mother's Day festival. She failed to prevent the festival, however, 
> and was ironically arrested for "disturbing the peace" at the event, 
> which housed an array of vendors and much purchasing of goods. The 
> disheartened Anna Jarvis deeply regretted her efforts to initiate 
> Mother's Day and mourned the neglect of the spirit of the founding 
> mothers.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "Montani Semper Liberi"
>
> Mountaineers Are Always Free
>
>  
>
>  
>
>
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: "Elaine Harger" <eharger at agoron.net>
> Reply-To: eharger at agoron.net
> To: "Progressive Librarians Guild " <plgnet-l at listproc.sjsu.edu>, 
> "Social Responsibilities Round Table " <srrtac-l at ala.org>
> Subject: Mothers Day
> Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 11:48:46 -0400 (EDT)
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> Democracy Now, on Friday morning, aired a story about
> the first Mothers Day, which included a reading of
> Julia Ward Howe's proclamation calling on women of all
> nations to work for the abolition of war and to grieve
> for sons and fathers lost to same. The origins of
> Mothers Day are attributed to Howe's efforts for peace.
>
> Here is a link to a Quaker site with the proclamation
> and commentary.
>
> http://www.quaker.org/chestnuthill/motherdy.htm
>
> In solidarity,
> Elaine
>
>
>
> --
> Elaine Harger
> P.O. Box 311
> Snoqualmie WA 98065
>
> 425/831-6718 h
> 425/831-8155 w
> eharger at agoron.net
>
>

Al Kagan
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61820
USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax 217-333-2214
akagan at uiuc.edu
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 5954 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/private/peace-discuss/attachments/20050508/1b76aa97/attachment-0001.bin