Since 1924 the Australian calendar has dedicated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Why?
Many would be surprised to learn that the modern Australian celebration grew out of calls for peace and anti-war campaigns following the American Civil War. In 1870, writer and women’s rights activist Julia Ward Howe, best known as the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, appealed to women to unite and bring peace to the world. This was known as the Mother’s Day Proclamation. Thanks to peace activist Ann Jarvis, in 1914 the US president Woodrow Wilson declared the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
In Australia it was first held in 1924, following the heavy losses of WWI. Sydney woman Janet Heydon started this tradition out of concern for the lonely, forgotten aged mothers at Newington State Hospital. She campaigned for local schools and businesses to donate gifts to the ladies. Many of them were no longer mothers or wives thanks to WWI.
There was this need for Mother’s Day, and the American version was a better fit than other Mother’s days celebrated around the world.
It was inevitable that Mother’s Day became commercialised in the US, with card companies and florists marketing gifts.
Over the years it has become an occasion for family reunions in Australia to honor our mothers with a family lunch or dinner. Some very lucky mothers are also treated to gifts, flowers and breakfast in bed.