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Julia Ward Howe

May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910

Julia Ward Howe as a Young Woman (About 1855).  Hulton Archive / Getty Images

Julia Ward Howe tried to establish a “Mother's Day” in America, as what today we might call an “anti-war protest.” This information is quite surprising to many contemporary people who think of Mother’s Day in terms of flowers, phone calls, taking Mom out to brunch, and so forth. But as we think about and honor our individual Moms, it is worth taking some time to consider the original motivations behind the idea of observing “Mother’s Day.”

Well known both during, and after, the American Civil War, as the author of the words to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," Julia Ward Howe came from a prominent family of preachers and abolitionists; and was well educated herself, as a result.

She had direct experience of field hospitals and camp conditions because she directed and administered the work of “support the troops” charitable organizations; largely focused on sanitary conditions for the soldiers in active service, and for wounded and sick soldiers in military hospitals; where there were terrible conditions.

Known as “Sanitary Commissions” or “Sanitary Committees,” these charities largely operated under the leadership of women, giving them professional experience and a window into the world of political action and community organizing, a gateway into public life for many women of the 19th century.

Many of the charitable Sanitary Committees, based in church communities as well as in the Jewish community, later organized to raise the capital funds required to build some of the largest urban hospitals and medical centers, such as Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

Through this direct experience with the Sanitary Commissions, Julia Ward Howe became horrified by the carnage of the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. In 1870, she tried to issue a manifesto for peace at international peace conferences in London and Paris (it was much like the later Mother's Day Peace Proclamation)

In 1872, she began promoting the idea of a "Mother's Day for Peace" to be celebrated on June 2nd, honoring peace, motherhood and womanhood. In 1873, women in 18 cities in America held a Mother's Day for Peace gathering. Boston celebrated the Mother's Day for Peace for at least 10 years; but the celebrations died out when Howe was no longer paying most of the cost for them; although some celebrations continued for 30 years.

Howe turned her efforts to working for peace and women's rights in other ways.

|A postage stamp was issued in honor of Julia Ward Howe in 1987 – with no mention of Mother's| |

|Day, however. |[pic] |

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|Postage stamp from the USPS “Great Americans” series, | |

|released February 12, 1987. | |

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|Found online: | |

|Julia_Ward_Howe.jpg | |

| | |

|mothers-day-2011.html | |

Perhaps because of our recent experiences with wars and the casualties of wars, we are coming to recognize that Julia Ward Howe's accomplishments did not end with the writing of her famous poem, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

As Julia became more famous, she was asked to speak publicly more often. Her husband became less adamant that she remain a private person; and while he never actively supported her further efforts, his resistance eased.

Through this work, she saw some of the worst effects of the war -- not only the death and disease which killed and maimed the soldiers. She also worked with the widows and orphans of soldiers on both sides of the war, and realized that the effects of the war go far beyond the killing of soldiers in battle. She also saw the economic devastation of the Civil War; the economic crises that followed the war; and the radical restructuring of the economies of both North and South.

In 1870, Julia Ward Howe took on a new issue and a new cause. Distressed by her experience of the realities of war, 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, but she failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace.

Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who had persistently 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.

|[pic] |Ann Jarvis' daughter, named Anna Jarvis, would, of course, have known of her mother's work, |

| |as well as the work of Julia Ward Howe. |

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| |Much later, when her mother, Ann, died, Anna Jarvis started her own crusade to found a |

| |memorial day for women. |

| | |

| |Anna Jarvis |

| |(May 1st, 1864-November 24th, 1948) |

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| | |

| |See online article: |

| |“Woman Hero: Anna Jarvis” |

| |by Claudia from Costa Mesa, |

| | |

The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in West Virginia in 1907, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. As a woman of faith, she was very active within the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church community in Webster, WV.

It was during one of her Sunday school lessons in 1876 that the daughter, Anna Jarvis, allegedly found her inspiration for Mother’s Day, as her mother, Ann, closed the lesson with a prayer, stating:

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| |[pic] |

|“I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mothers’ day commemorating her for | |

|the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it!” | |

And from there, the custom caught on -- spreading eventually to 45 states.

Finally, the holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912; and with the help of John Wannamaker, active churchman and owner of the great Philadelphia department store, to popularize it, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially declared the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

However, Anna Jarvis eventually disowned her holiday after it became, in her words, a "Hallmark Holiday" due to its commercialization by retailers. Ms Jarvis was actually arrested in 1948 for disturbing the peace while protesting the commercialization of the holiday she helped to create.

One usually hears the "Battle Hymn of the Republic!" at funerals or patriotic holidays like the 4th of July, Veteran’s Day, and Memorial Day; but Mother’s Day might be the most appropriate time of the year to sing it.

There is trauma, and there are trauma survivors, and degrees of extremity of trauma to survive; and there is Vicarious Trauma (VT), a form of psychological stress that comes through human empathy and compassion. All of these are good themes for Mother's Day, to help us bypass the generally emphasized motifs for the day, which along with Anna Jarvis, we agree have long since become problematic.

As people of faith and followers of Jesus, let's reclaim Mother's Day as a call for peace; and "keep the Mary" -- she who watched her son die on the Cross -- in Mother's Day; just as some call for "keeping the Christ in Christmas."

|Happy Mother's Day to All Children of Mothers! | |

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|A Prayer for Mother’s Day |[pic] |

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|God our Creator, we pray: | |

|for new mothers, coming to terms | |

|with new responsibility ; | |

|for expectant mothers, wondering and waiting; | |

|for those who are tired, stressed or depressed; | |

|for those who struggle to balance the | |

|tasks of work and family; | |

|for those who are unable to feed their children | |

|due to poverty; | |

|for those whose children have physical, | |

|mental or emotional disabilities; | |

|for those who have children they do not want; | |

|for those who raise children on their own; | |

|for those who have lost a child; | |

|for those who care for the children of others; | |

|for those whose children have left home;  | |

|for those who are homeless; | |

|and for those whose desire to be a mother | |

|has not been fulfilled. | |

Bless all mothers, that their love may be deep and tender,

and that they may lead all children to know and do what is good,

living not for themselves alone, but for God and for others. Amen.

|[pic] |Loving God, |

| | |

| |we thank you for the love of the mothers you have given us, |

| |whose love is so precious that it can never be measured, |

| |whose patience seems to have no end.  |

| |May we see your loving hand behind them, and guiding them. |

| |We pray for those mothers who fear they will run out of love |

| |or time, or patience. |

We ask for grace to confront the suffering that comes when mothers have neglected or been abusive to their children, or stood by as others abused them.

We ask you to bless them with your own special love.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, our brother. Amen.

| |Gracious God, |

|[pic] |We thank you for adopting us into your family through the miracle of your grace, and for |

| |calling us to be brothers and sisters to each other. |

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| |Today, loving God, we pray for our mothers: |

| |who cared for us when we were helpless |

| |who comforted us when we were hurt |

| |whose love and care we often took for granted. |

| | |

| |Today we pray for: |

| |those who are grieving the loss of their mother, |

| |those who never knew their biological mother, and now yearn for her, |

| |those who have experienced the wonder of an adopted mother's love |

| |all families separated by war or conflict. |

| |Lord, give them special blessings. |

| | |

| |Keep us united with you and with each other, so that we can be and become all that we are |

| |meant to be. Amen. |

From the Middle Ages, till well into the 20th Century, a symbolic “language of flowers” was commonly understood: different flowers, trees, and other plants often carried symbolic meanings, so one could send a message through flowers. This language of flowers became so extensive that, by the Victorian era, small “dictionaries” were published to help “translate” the oftentimes quite elaborate messages.

In this language of flowers, carnations represented mothers; this is because, while other flowers shed and drop their petals as they die, the carnation holds its petals close, as loving mothers hold thoughts and prayers for their children, and other peoples’ children, close to their hearts, faithful to the end.

In many cultures, white flowers represent our ancestors. These are some of the reasons why the long-lasting white carnation was an early symbol and emblem for the “Mother’s Day of Peace.” Some churches send worshippers home with a white carnation to express honor and gratitude to the generations of mothers who have cared for us.

Mother’s Day prayers found online at “Godweb:”

Some of this information comes from the article: “Mother’s Day” on the “Women’s History” Website at :

, and from:

, as well as:



Text has been edited and supplemented by Reverend Lisa Bellan-Boyer

For more information about Julia Ward Howe, and many other topics in women’s history,

see the Website:

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“Old School” Sailor’s Tattoo design from Austalia. Found online:

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