Mother’s Day was created by a social activist who later disowned the holiday and died in West Chester fighting against its rampant commercialization, writes Julia Shipley for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Anna Reeves Jarvis came up with the idea after the death of her mother. She convinced John Wanamaker, the Philadelphia department store founder, to fund the celebration that honored “the sacrifices mothers make for their children.”
Subsequently, in 1908, 400 people attended a service where Jarvis’ mother was buried. At the same time, 15,000 individuals gathered for the inaugural Mother’s Day celebration at Wanamaker’s auditorium in Philadelphia…