Anna Jarvis
Anna Marie Jarvis (May 1, 1864 - November 24, 1948) was born in Webster, Taylor County, West Virginia, as the daughter of Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. Her family moved to Grafton, West Virginia in her childhood. Two years after her mother's death she held a memorial to her mother on May 12, 1907, and then went on a quest to make Mother's Day a recognized holiday. She succeeded in making this nationally recognized in 1914. The International Mother's Day Shrine still stands today in Grafton as a symbol of her accomplishments.
By the 1920s, Anna Marie Jarvis had become soured on the commercialization of the holiday. She incorporated herself as the Mother’s Day International Association, claimed copyright on the second Sunday of May, and was once arrested for disturbing the peace. She and her sister Ellsinore spent their family inheritance campaigning against the holiday. Both died in poverty. Jarvis, says her New York Times obituary, became embittered because too many people sent their mothers a printed greeting card. As she said, "A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother--and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment!"
Anna Marie Jarvis died in West Chester, Pennsylvania, recognized as the founder of the Mother's Day holiday in the United States of America.
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