Classic moms

Today marks the 100th observance of Mother's Day; the first one was on May 10, 1908, in a Methodist church in Grafton, W.Va. By now most people know that it started with Anna Reeves Jarvis, who in the mid-1800s tried to improve health conditions in Appalachia through her Mother's Work Days; that, in 1870, Julia Ward Howe issued a Mother's Day Proclamation, calling for peace after the Civil War; and that Jarvis' daughter, also named Anna, was behind the 1908 celebration, to honor her mother. She finally saw Woodrow Wilson make Mother's Day an annual holiday in 1914 but came to despise its devolution into a card, a box of candy and a buffet brunch.

By Scott Huler

May 11, 2008