Preface
Although it is Anna Jarvis who on May 10, 1908 achieved the recognition of the Mother's Day celebration as we know it today, the true history of Mother’s Day can be traced back to Julia Ward Howe in 1870. SundryShop.com brings Julia Ward Howe's amazing story to life with an original story.
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Oil Painting of Julia Ward Howe
Two Girls' Story About Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation
The warm June sun brazenly beams down upon the mass of people gathered in the Boston square. Katy and Ann, two young girls of eight and nine, dart though the mass of giant, flowing over-skirts, navigating their way to the front of the crowd. Their small bare feet seem to fly from cobblestone to cobblestone in excitement. Kathy struggles to keep her over-sized hand-me-down skirt from dragging while still tightly clutching a piece of paper that reads “Mothers' Peace Day Observance 1870 - Julia Ward Howe to speak.” Just then the band begins to play the powerful “Battle Hymn of the Republic” melody. Ann, who wears a much shorter, out-grown, cream-colored dress, frantically yells to Katy, “Hurry, hurry, she's going to start!”
Determined to gain the best view, the girls push onward through the crowd of women. As the band grows louder, they know they are close to the stage. Like lost explorers spilling out of a jungle, the girls tumble out from the vast sea of over skirts. They look up to see that they are finally in front of the stage and not a minute too soon. The noise from the crowd swells with excitement as a proud, strong woman in her fifties takes the stage. “Is that her?” Ann whispers to Katy. Without taking her eyes off the woman on stage, Katy nods, “Yes!”
The larger-than-life presence of the author of Battle Hymn of the Republic and the celebrated abolitionist, political activist, poet, woman of letters, and song writer, Julia Ward Howe, stands before the girls and captures the gaze of each woman in the crowd as they await her every word. Composed and self-assured, she begins her Mother's Day proclamation.
Julia Ward Howe's declaration is an antiwar statement. She is sickened by the Civil War's carnage and loss of lives and extends her displeasure to the ensuing Franco-Prussian War. She calls for women all over the world to speak for an alternative government that seeks peaceful solutions to conflict so that future wars might be forever prevented.
“Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be of water or of tears! Say firmly: "We will not have questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience.” The crowd respectfully applauds. “We women of one country will be too tender to those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
Boston Square Mother's Day for Peace Scene
As the crowd erupts with cheers, Katy notices that a woman next to her, dressed in mourning black, begins to weep. Compassionately, Katy reaches for the woman’s hand and holds it tightly.
Mrs. Howe's waits for the cheering to subside a bit before she continues. Her speech once again spellbinds the listeners, “From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says "Disarm! Disarm!" The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession!” As she completes her statement, the throng, like a balloon over-filled with emotion, begins to chant, "Peace, peace!". She pauses and her gravitas calms the crowd. She continues,
“As men have forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after his time the sacred impress not of Caesar, but of God.” In respect for the dead, the crowd reverentially applauds.
Julia Ward Howe takes a moment to allow her words to sink in. After observing that she again has the crowd's undivided attention, she begins the grand finale of her speech. “In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.”
The crowd explodes into a sea of passionate applause. Overwhelmed, the two girls excitedly hug each other. Then, Ann giddily laughs and playfully begins dancing the cake walk.
A Girl Dancing the Cake Walk
Instantly, others join in and dance the cake walk, as well! The inspiring message for women to band together and effect universal peace throughout the world leaves the crowd feeling jubilant - the Mother's Day celebration has just begun!
Many years later the two girls, now grandmothers and great grandmothers, gather their families on Mother’s Day to tell the story of the day they saw Julia Ward Howe give her speech that would establish the precedent for Mother's Day, the holiday that honors the love and power a mother gives to her family and to the world.
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(Story written by Nicholas who works at SundryShop.com & edited by the Sundryshop.com team. Copyright 2012 by SundryShop.com. All rights reserved.)
