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Mother's Day Reading

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers who may be reading. In 2021, I published two posts that are amenable to the special occasion.

The Origin of Mother's Day

-> Anna Jarvis and the Origin of Mother's Day in the United States

In this post, I chronicled the early 20th century movement to have Mother's Day recognized as a Federal holiday in the United States. The leader of the movement was Anna Jarvis. She began organizing in earnest in 1907 or 1908. Then-President Woodrow Wilson formally recognized Mother's Day as a Federal holiday in 1914. Jarvis's conception of Mother's Day was distinctly less commercial than what the occasion would become over time. One interesting discovery I made while looking for contemporaneous newspaper accounts of the Mother's Day movement (you will find a number of original accounts in my post) was a collection of articles about the first Mother's Day celebrations in Australia. Australia's Mother's Day was also inspired by the work of Anna Jarvis.

Calvin Coolidge Describes His Mother

-> Calvin Coolidge Describes His Mother, Victoria

Calvin Coolidge served as President of the United States from 1923-1929. After leaving office in 1929, he published his autobiography. Despite the fact that his nickname was "Silent Cal," Coolidge was a beautiful writer. The finest aesthetic passage of his work dealt with his mother, Victoria, who died in his youth. You will find my favorite description below:

"Whatever was grand and beautiful in form and color attracted her. It seemed as though the rich green tints of the foliage and the blossoms of the flowers came for her in the springtime, and in the autumn it was for her that the mountain sides were struck with crimson and gold."

My article contains a clip of the page covering the full section of Coolidge's book where he discussed his mother.

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