Taylor Schmalz Reframes Whens Mothers Day With Jarvis Story
Taylor Schmalz wants to reframe whens mothers day by putting Anna Jarvis back at the center of the holiday’s story. The director of collections and interpretations at Historic St. George will share Jarvis’s story at the 19th Firstival, where the focus is on her original vision for mothers.
Schmalz said, "Anna Jarvis wanted mothers to have an intimate day that celebrated them." She also said, "She had a vision. People love the holiday, but they don’t remember her, or her vision."
Anna Jarvis In Philadelphia
Anna Jarvis founded Mother’s Day in honor of her own mother, Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis. Around 1904, she moved to Philadelphia with her brother Claude, joined what was then called the Old St. George’s Methodist Church, and took a job in the advertising department at Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Her mother had given birth to 13 children in her home in Grafton, W. Va., and only four survived to adulthood. Before she died on May 9, 1905, Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis asked her daughter to memorialize the invisible work of mothers.
May 10, 1908
Jarvis began a letter-writing campaign to politicians and city officials advocating for a day specifically for mothers. Through that campaign, she enlisted the support of John Wanamaker, James Elverson and Henry J Heinz.
On Sunday May 10, 1908, she sent 500 carnations to her mother’s home church in West Virginia and stood before a group in the auditorium of the Wanamaker Building to thank mothers for all they do. That event was described as the first public celebration of Mother’s Day.
White Carnations In The City
An Inquirer article on May 11, 1908 reported that many churches used white carnations in the decorations. It also reported that many houses throughout the city had great bunches of white carnations in their windows.
The story returns to Historic St. George Museum and Archives this Saturday, when Schmalz is scheduled to share Jarvis’s story at the 19th Firstival. For readers who know the holiday as flowers and brunch, the record she is emphasizing points back to a more intimate original purpose and a specific May 10 beginning in Philadelphia.
