When we think of Mothers’ Day, we think of gifts and cards, brunches and of course, flowers. But the origins of this day to honor our mothers has its roots in far more serious issues, and the efforts of some very driven women to change the world for the better.

In the 1850’s and early 1860’s, a woman in West Virginia named Ann Reeves Jarvis formed women’s clubs to tackle some of the more daunting social issues of the day. The issues revolved around the health of children; the women worked to provide sanitary conditions for child care and to lower infant mortality rates by fighting prevalent diseases and decreasing milk contamination. As the Civil War raged, these groups also tended to the wounded soldiers from both the Confederate and Union armies. When the war ended, mothers from both sides united to mourn the deaths of their sons and husbands; and they called their gatherings “Mothers’ Friendship Days.”

Ann Jarvis’ daughter was inspired her to organize the first Mothers’ Day observances in 1908, as a reaction to her mother’s death three years earlier. So on May 10, families attended local events in Jarvis’s hometown of Grafton, West Virginia as well as in Philadelphia. Primarily through Jarvis’s initiative, Mothers’ Day became more and more popular until U.S. President Woodrow Wilson officially designated the second Sunday in May in 1914 for the holiday.

Did You Know? Anna Jarvis spent the latter years of her life trying to cancel the holiday she had created; as she detested how commercial the day had become.

Gordon Boswell knows that your mother deserves the very best, so on May the 8th, send her a floral bouquet designed by our expert florists. You won’t find more beautiful arrangements anywhere in Fort Worth – so whether you choose roses, orchids or any combination of spring flowers, your mother will be honored in the most beautiful way. Don’t delay – get your Mothers’ Day order in today!