JUNE 12, 2026 VENDOR VOICES WILL SHAKESPEARE Groundcover vendor No. 258 “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my Angel mother." — President Lincoln’s tribute to his mom, Nancy Hanks Lincoln (1784-1818) The above quote is Lincoln’s tribute to his mom, when he was a small-town attorney in Springfield, Illinois. During Mother’s Day celebrations in America, many people choose to buy Hallmark greeting cards which express Abraham Lincoln’s sentiment and gratitude for his mother. To some online perspectives, Mother’s Day “originated as a movement for peace, public health and community healing, rather than the modern commercial holiday.” Online demographic journal Quizlet noted that the approximate number of soldiers who died on the Union and Confederate sides were 620,000 to 750,000 — in a population of 36 million (including approximately 4 million slaves). It was estimated that 360,000 Union soldiers died, and 260,000 Confederate soldiers died. Lincoln’s famous two-minute speech (275 words) delivered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1863, was powerful and brief. The purpose of the Gettysburg address was to help dedicate a national cemetery for soldiers who died at the battle of Gettysburg, and to honor their sacrifices and acknowledge their participation in a struggle to “preserve a nation founded on liberty and equality.” But why are we talking about Lincoln’s Civil War Speech as part of the origin story and cultural literacy about Mother’s Day? Intersection of Civil War tragedies and Mother’s Day The Gettysburg address started by making reference to the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln unequivocally said that the American nation was “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” He called for a new birth of freedom in order to ensure that “the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” As the nation celebrates its 250-year anniversary on July 4, 2026, Lincoln’s famous speech in Gettysburg reminds us that in order to preserve our Democracy for the next 250 years, we must be eternally vigilant to ensure that the nation lives up to the ideals of the founding fathers. On Veteran’s Day which takes place on November 11 every year, the nation mourns and honors those who died in military service. Memorial Day, which takes place every year on the last Monday in the month of May, used to be called “Decoration Day.” Why? It is a time to remember, mourn and honor fallen soldiers and pray for permanent peace while decorating their graves with flowers and posters. According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, “In the waning years of the Civil War (1861-1865) and immediately afterwards, communities in the North and South, Black and White, decorated soldiers’ graves with floral honors on Springtime ‘Decoration Days.’ The practice of strewing flowers on graves has been documented from classical Roman times to Western Europe in the nineteenth century.” Mothers of fallen soldiers and their relatives were distraught and traumatized by the Civil War. They never wanted the nation to go through such a bloody and painful episode. It is no accident that Mother’s Day observance was proposed as a peace and public health movement. Women of America did not want future wars, and they wanted to be fully engaged in any wars which cost staggering numbers of American lives. Mother’s Day movement from 1870 to present day Women's rights activist, poet and abolitionist Julia Ward Howe issued a powerful declaration in Boston, circa 1870. It was called “The Mother’s Day Proclamation.” It called for mothers to say “NO” and refuse to allow their sons to be killed and mained as casualties of war. She proposed that women of America and other countries “assemble in councils to advocate for the amicable settlement of international questions.” Howe’s proclamation is reminiscent of the 1848 Suffragette “Declaration of Sentiments” in Seneca Falls, New York, which made demands somewhat similar to the July 4, 1776 Declaration achieve equality, freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To fully understand why Ms. Howe wanted to associate Mother’s Day with permanent international peace, one has to understand some of her women’s right roles during and after the Civil War. According to the online magazine peacealliance.org/history, Ms. Howe nursed and tended the wounded during the civil war. She realized that the effects of the war go far beyond the killing of soldiers in battle. What she witnessed during the civil war inspired her to call out for women to “rise up through the ashes and devastation …” A prominent name in the creation of “Mother’s Day” was Mrs. Ann Reeves Jarvis. Her involvement in this of Independence to GROUNDCOVER NEWS 11 Civics and peace movement origins of Mother's Day Clockwise starting top left: Julia Ward Howe, Mary Towles Sasseen, Ann Reeves Jarvis and Anna Jarvis. creation lasted from the 1850s until the early 20th century. Online magazine Old Farmers Almanac noted that Mrs. Jarvis was a peace activist “who organized Mothers’ Day Work Clubs in West Virginia to combat unsanitary living conditions …” She was also very “concerned about high infant mortality rates, especially pervasive in Appalachia, and wanted to educate and help mothers who needed it the most.” This is why some historians say that the Mother's Day movement was highly connected to the issues of maternal public health and environmental quality. Ann Reeves Jarvis was given the credit for being “a champion of peace, reconciliation and public health.” Furthermore, Jarvis created Mothers Work Clubs in West Virginia “to combat diseases and improve infant mortality.” Some historians noted that during the civil war, she organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day” to promote peace and unite divided communities. Another noteworth name is Mary Towles Sasseen. She was a teacher in Henderson, Kentucky. Historians said that she “led her class in what is the first known observance of Mother's Day, focusing just on honoring mothers.” She got her pamphlet published in the late 19th century which revealed her vision for Mother’s Day. How did she do that? The magazine Old Farmers Almanac noted Mary Sasseen traveled across the state to educational gatherings in order to promote the observance of a national holiday primarily in public schools, with a suggested date of April 20th, her mother’s birthday. It was noted that schools in several states, such as Kentucky and Ohio, adopted Sasseen’s idea. She passed on in 1906 before her dream of a Mother's Day national holiday was realized. It was noted that the “the Kentucky legislature passed a resolution acclaiming Mary as the originator of the idea of celebration of Mother’s Day.” Anna Jarvis was the daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Old Farmers Almanac shared that after Mrs. Ann Reeves Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter carried the mantle of leadership from Philadelphia. She started to campaign for a national day to honor all mothers. Anna Jarvis said, “I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will find a memorial on mother's day, commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life … She is entitled to it.” Mother’s Day is now held in the month of May. Why? Old Farmers Almanac noted that “In May of 1907, Anna memorialized her mother’s lifelong activism with a memorial service held at the Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna’s mother had taught. The following year, on May 10, a Mother’s Day service was held at the same church to acknowledge all mothers. Thus was born the idea that the second Sunday in May be set aside to honor every mother, whether living or deceased.” In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill which designated the second Sunday in May as a legal holiday which will be called “Mother’s Day.” President Wilson also noted that it would be a day dedicated “to the best mother in the world, your mother.”
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