Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis (September 30, 1832 in Culpeper, Virginia - May 9, 1905 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a social activist and community organizer during the American Civil War era. She is recognized as a mother who inspired Mother's Day and as founder of the Mother's Day movement, and her daughter, Anna Marie Jarvis (1864-1948), was recognized as the founder of Mother's Day holiday in the United States.
Video Ann Jarvis
Biography
Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis was born in Culpeper, Virginia, on September 30, 1832, the daughter of Josiah Washington Reeves and Nancy Kemper Reeves. Ann Reeves Jarvis moved to Philippi, Barbour County, (West) Virginia with his family when his father, a Methodist minister, was transferred to a church in the town. In 1850, Ann Reeves married Granville Jarvis, son of a Baptist pastor, who became a successful trader near Taylor County. Two years later, in 1852, the couple moved to Webster, where Granville Jarvis established a trading business.
The Jarvis family, like many families in the mid-1800s, often experienced tragedy and loss. Jarvis gave birth between eleven and thirteen children for seventeen years. Of these children, only four survive to adulthood. Others died from diseases such as measles, typhoid fever, and a common diphtheria epidemic in the Appalachian community in Taylor County. This loss inspires Jarvis to take action to help his community fight childhood diseases and unhealthy conditions.
Mrs. Jarvis is a dynamic woman who sees needs in her community and finds ways to meet them. In 1858, while pregnant with his sixth child, Jarvis started the Mother's Day Working Club in the cities of Grafton, Pruntytown, Philippi, Fetterman, and Webster to improve health and sanitation conditions. He and other regional women join the growing public health movement in the United States. Jarvis clubs are trying to provide relief and education to families to reduce infant's disease and death. These clubs raise money to buy drugs and hire women to work in families where mothers suffer from tuberculosis or other health problems. They developed a program to check milk long before there were state requirements. Club members visit households to educate their mothers and families about improving sanitation and overall health. The clubs benefited from Jarvis's advice, Dr. James Reeves, known for his work in the epidemic of typhoid fever in northwestern Virginia.
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), sentiment in West Virginia was sharply divided between the north and south. In 1863, this peaked when the western part of the country broke away from Virginia and formed a new West Virginia state, which was faithful to the Union. West Virginia became the site of some of the first conflicts of the Civil War. The Jarvis 'Mothers' Club Working Day changed their mission to meet the changing demands of the war. Ann Jarvis urged clubs to declare neutrality and to provide assistance to both Confederate and Union armies. Jarvis illustrates his determination to remain neutral and assist both sides by refusing to support the proposed Methodist Church division to the north and south branches. In addition, he reportedly offered a single prayer for Thornsbury Bailey Brown, the first Union soldier killed by the Confederates in the area, when others refused. Under his direction, clubs fed and dressed warriors from both sides stationed in the area. When typhoid and typhoid fever occur in military camps, Jarvis and his club members take care of suffering soldiers from both sides at the request of a commander.
Jarvis' efforts to keep the community together continued after the Civil War ended. After the fighting ended, public officials sought ways to eliminate post-war conflicts asking Jarvis to help. He and his club members plan a "Mother's Friendship Day" for soldiers from both sides and their families at the Taylor County Court in Pruntytown to help with the healing process. Despite the threat of violence, Jarvis successfully held the show in 1868. He shared with veterans a message of unity and reconciliation. The band played " Dixie " and " Star Spangled Banner " and the show ended with everyone, north and south, joining together to sing " Auld Lang Syne
Toward the end of the Civil War, in 1864, the Jarvis family moved to Grafton to help business ventures Granville Jarvis as inn keepers and land speculators. Ann Reeves Jarvis continues the work of his social activist. Throughout his life, Jarvis taught Sunday School and was deeply involved with the Methodist church. At Grafton, Jarvis was involved in the construction of the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church and later taught the Sunday School class there. He served as a supervisor at the Elementary School Sunday School in the church for twenty-five years. Jarvis is also a popular speaker and often lectures on subjects ranging from religion, public health, and literature to audiences in churches and local organizations. His lectures included, "Literature as a Source of Culture and Improvement," "The Great Mothers of the Bible," "The Great Value of Hygiene of Women and Children," and "The Importance of a Supervised Recreation Center for Boys and Girls."
Ann Jarvis remained in Grafton until after the death of her husband, Granville, in 1902. After his death, Jarvis moved to Philadelphia to live near his son and two daughters. Anna Jarvis, her daughter, takes care of Ann Reeves Jarvis, whose health continues to decline due to heart problems. Ann Reeves Jarvis died in Philadelphia on May 8, 1905, surrounded by four surviving children.
Throughout his life, Jarvis tried to honor and help mothers. Her daughter, Anna Marie Jarvis, remembers her praying for someone to start the day to commemorate and honor her during Sunday school lessons in 1876. On the first anniversary of Ann Jarvis's death, Anna Jarvis meets with friends and announces plans for a memorial. service remembers her mother for the following year. In May 1907, a private service was held in honor of Ann Jarvis. The following year, in 1908, Anna Jarvis organized the first official celebration of Mother's Day, approaching the anniversary of her mother's death. Andrews Methodist Church, where Ann Reeves Jarvis taught Sunday School for 25 years, held his first public service on the morning of May 10, 1908. Anna Jarvis did not attend the service, but sent a donation of 500 white carnations to everyone in attendance. In the afternoon, 15,000 people attended another service organized by Anna Jarvis in Philadelphia, held at Wanamaker's Auditorium Store.
In the years following the initial ceremonies, the new holiday Anna Jarvis gained recognition in many states and spread to a number of foreign countries. Anna Jarvis also embarked on a mission to make Mother's Day a recognized official holiday in the United States. He succeeded when, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a congressional resolution formally making the second Sunday of May the National Mother's Day and called on America to recognize it by displaying the flag.
Maps Ann Jarvis
See also
- Mother's Day (United States)
- International Mother's Day Temple
Note
References
- Antolini, Katherine Lane. "Maternal Warning: Anna Jarvis and the Struggle to Control Mother's Day." PhD diss., West Virginia University, 2009. [4].
- Kendall, Norman F. Mother's Day: The History of Establishment and its Founder. Grafton, WV: D. Grant Smith, 1937.
- Kreiser, Christine M. "Anna Jarvis." e-WV: The Virginia Western Encyclopedia. March 2, 2012. Accessed March 24, 2014. [5]
- "Mother's Day: A celebration rooted in the life of a Germanna mother" Culpeper Star Exponent, May 14, 2012
- Mother's Day Articles for Peace from May 12, 2013; taken at zinnedproject.org on March 12, 2014
- Tyler-McGraw, Marie. "Mother's Day Revisited: 'But After All Is He Not a Masterpiece as Mother and Gentlewoman...'" Goldenseal (Spring 1999): 10-15.
- State Archives of West Virginia. "Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis." Archives and History of West Virginia. Retrieved 24 March 2014. [6]
- Wolfe, Howard H. Mother's Day and Mother's Day Church. Kingsport, TN: Kingsport Press, 1962.
External links
- International Mother's Day Temple
Further reading
LEED Eric Schmidt (1997). Princeton University Press, ed. Consumer Rites: Purchase and Sale of American Holidays (reprints, illustrations ed.). pp.Ã, 256-275. ISBNÃ, 0-691-01721-2.Source of the article : Wikipedia
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