Memorializing Motherhood: Anna Jarvis and the Struggle for Control of Mother's Day : West Virginia University Press : 9781938228933 : 1938228936 : 30 Oct 2014 : Few know the name Anna Jarvis, yet on the second Sunday in May, we mail the card, buy the flowers, place the phone call, or make the brunch reservation to honor our mothers, all because of her. Anna Jarvis organized the first official Mother's Day celebration in Grafton, West Virginia in 1908 and then spent decades promoting the holiday and defending it from commercialization. She designed her Mother's Day celebration around a sentimental view of motherhood and domesticity, envisioning a day venerating the daily services and sacrifices of mothers within the home. After Mother's Day became a national holiday in 1914, many organizations sought to align the holiday's meaning with changing perceptions of modern motherhood in the twentieth century. Instead of restricting a mother's service and influence solely to the domestic sphe