Where Did MOTHER'S DAY Come From?
From PPTKids.org:

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Aren't you glad that someone thought of having a day that lets moms know how special they are to us? Maybe you have been celebrating Mother's Day for years, but you never thought about how the holiday got started.

Like most holidays, it started with one person who had a great idea. Have you ever heard of Julia Ward Howe? She wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic in 1861. She was a godly woman who wanted to be sure that our nation's mothers received recognition for the really great job they do! Ms. Howe held organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Massachusetts every year, just to get people thinking about how important mothers are to America.

In 1905 Anna Jarvis, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania began a campaign to establish Mother's Day on a national level. Anna had grown up hearing her own mother speak often about how much she wanted America to have a day set aside to honor mothers. Anna especially remembered one day in Sunday School class when she was 12 years old. Anna's mother had just finished a lesson on "Mothers of the Bible." She closed the lesson with a prayer that mothers would have a day honoring their hard work and contributions to our country. Anna never forgot that prayer.

It took her many years of work, but she accomplished her goal. She spoke with anyone who would listen to her idea for Mother's Day. She wrote hundreds of letters to legislators, executives, and businessmen on both state and national levels. She spoke to any groups who would have her, but mostly her words fell on deaf ears. Then one day, a famous businessman learned of her concern and agreed with her. Great merchant and philanthropist, John Wanamaker of Philadelphia gave her his influence and support, ... [Aren't businessmen wonderful?!]

Ms. Jarvis' movement grew. ... On May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution of the Congress making the second Sunday in May "Mother's Day" and requesting the president to call for its appropriate observance.

... In 1870, Julia Ward Howe took on a new issue and a new cause. Distressed by her experience of the realities of war [not only the death and disease which killed and maimed the soldiers, but the economic devastation], she determined that peace was one of the two most important causes of the world (the other being equality in its many forms) and seeing war arise again in the world in the Franco-Prussian War, she called in 1870 for women to rise up and oppose war in all its forms. She wanted women to come together across national lines, to recognize what we hold in common above what divides us, and commit to finding peaceful resolutions to conflicts. She issued a Declaration, hoping to gather together women in a congress of action.

She failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Anna Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who had attempted starting in 1858 to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors. ...

"No matter what direction life takes us, a mother's love and guidance are a tremendous blessing that help us to grow up as stable, responsible, and caring individuals. As nurturers, teachers, and protectors, mothers' unconditional affection helps their children to blossom into mature adults. In partnership with fathers, mothers play a critical role in building healthy families...Mothers who teach us right from wrong and to love our neighbors merit our deepest gratitude and appreciation."

--George W. Bush