Mother’s Day weekend is upon us — the holiday many mothers and not-yet-mothers hate.
Celebrations of motherhood can be traced back to a time when women were celebrated and even worshiped as powerful goddesses. Our modern version began with the work of Ann Jarvis, who organized “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” before the Civil War. In 1870, suffragette Julia Ward Howe wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation” asking mothers to unite in promoting world peace and, after Jarvis’ death in 1905, her daughter Anna made it her mission to have a holiday to honor the many sacrifices mothers make for their children.