The earliest Mothers' Day or Mothers' Work Days (plural "mothers") began in 1858 in West Virginia
- Anna Reeves Jarvis, a local teacher and church member and mother of Anna Jarvis, wanted to work for improved sanitation in her town
- during the Civil War, she extended the purpose of Mothers' Work Days to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides in the conflict
- after the Civil War, she worked to establish a reconciliation between people who had supported the two sides in the war
Mother's Day: What You Need to Know
- Ancient Celebrations of Mothers and Motherhood
- Mothering Sunday in Britain
- Mothers' Work Days
- Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day
- Anna Jarvis and Mother's Day
- Carnations, Anna Jarvis, and Mother's Day
- International Mother's Days Today
- Mother's Day Statistics
- Mother's Day Proclamations
- Famous Mothers
- Quotes on Mothers and Motherhood
- Ideas for Mother's Day (in the spirit of the originals)
- Motherhood in History
- Mother's Day - Index
Text copyright 1999-2005 © Jone Johnson Lewis
