It all started back in the mid-19th century with Anna Jarvis. Although she was not shy about giving her own mother credit for coming up with the idea, Anna aimed to fulfill her late mother’s dream after she heard her mom, Ann Reeves Jarvis, recite the following prayer: “I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial Mother’s Day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life.”
The Surprisingly Sad Origins of Mother’s Day
However, Ann actually had something a little different planned for this alleged “Mother’s Day” concept. According to Katharine Lane Antolini, an assistant professor of history and gender studies at West Virginia Wesleyan College and author of Memorializing Motherhood: Anna Jarvis and the Struggle for the Control of Mother’s Day, evidence suggests that the original idea for the national holiday implied a day for mothers, as in the word “mother” in plural form, meaning that it wasn’t i
The history of Mother s Day: A look at the woman behind the celebration
Published
Many have celebrated the holiday for years, but not all know of its history.
Across the country, Americans will spend the week leading up to May 9 choosing the brightest bouquets and selecting the most savory chocolates to send their moms this Mother’s Day.
But chances are that not all of those celebrating the matriarchal event know its origins.
Greek, Roman and Christian celebrations
According to History.com, celebrations of motherhood were present in ancient Greek and Roman times. The earliest known version of our now mom-centric celebration was Mothering Sunday, a mostly European tradition that took place on the fourth Sunday during lent.
Dr. Tamara Denmark Bailey
BUCKHANNON West Virginia Wesleyan College’s Student Senate honored two members of the West Virginia Wesleyan College community for their work this past year.
“In order for students to vote on the Faculty and Staff of the Year, they must first nominate faculty and staff members,” Katherine Marks, awards and elections chair for Student Senate, said.
Once nominations were gathered, the three faculty and staff with the highest number of nominations were then voted on by the students to choose one Faculty Member of the Year and one Staff Member of the Year. Dr. Tamara Denmark Bailey, assistant professor of history and coordinator of Wesleyan Abroad, was named the Faculty Member of the Year and Dean of Students Alisa Lively was named Staff Member of the Year.
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The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley
West Virginia Wesleyan College alum John McCuskey gifts the college $1.5 million Monday that will go toward the McCuskey Family Fellowship program. McCuskey speaks to the media while Wesleyan President Dr. Joel Thierstein looks on.
BUCKHANNON West Virginia Wesleyan College announced at a press conference Monday that alumnus John F. McCuskey was donating the largest one-time gift in the school’s 130-year history.
The contribution totals $1.5 million and will go toward the creation of a new undergraduate summer research program that has been billed as the McCuskey Family Fellowship.
“It’s my privilege to announce that thanks to a gift of $1.5 million from John McCuskey, West Virginia Wesleyan class of 1969, West Virginia Wesleyan College has created the McCuskey Family Fellowship program,” Wesleyan President Dr. Joel Thierstein said during Monday’s event. “This program can not be overstated. Receiving the schola
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Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 63F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..
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Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 63F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Updated: April 27, 2021 @ 5:10 pm