Brad Elensky, age 8, of Curwensville, Penn., for his question:
WHO STARTED MOTHER'S DAY?
Mother is the title given to a female parent, and it is also a word used to describe source or origin, such as mother country or mother tongue. In other languages, the word for mother is similar to the English: it is mater in Latin, mere in French, mutter in German, meter in Greek and mat in Russian. Nature's creative powers are compared by many with those of a mother.
Once each year, on the second Sunday in May, many people honor motherhood by celebrating Mother's Day. Mothers are especially honored on this day in many churches and by many families in various parts of the world.
It has become a custom to wear a carnation on Mother's Day: a colored one if the wearer's mother is living and a white one if she is dead.
For many years a special day called Mothering Sunday was celebrated in England in mid Lent. Similar celebrations have also been held in Yugoslavia and other European countries for many years.
First to suggest Mother's Day in the United States was Julia Ward Howe. In 1872 she suggested June 2 as a day dedicated to peace and for several years she held annual celebrations in Boston.
A Kentucky schoolteacher named Mary Towles Saseen started conducting Mother's Day celebrations in 1887. Frank Hering of South Bend, Ind., launched a campaign for the observance of Mother's Day in 1904 and Anna Jarvis of Grafton, West Va., launched a national campaign in 1907.
Anna Jarvis chose the second Sunday in May and started the custom of wearing carnations.
At a meeting of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1912, a delegate from Anna Jarvis' church in West Va., introduced a resolution recognizing Anna as the founder of Mother's Day and suggested that it be observed nationally on the second Sunday in May.
National recognition for Mother's Day came on May 9, 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution of Congress recommending that Congress and the executive departments of the government observe Mother's Day each year.
The following year, the President was authorized to proclaim Mother's Day as an annual national observance.
Many people in Canada and the United States express gratitude and appreciation to their fathers on the third Sunday in June each year. On this day, Father's Day is celebrated.
Mrs. John Bruce Dodd of Spokane, Wash., started Father's Day in 1910. Later, the custom spread throughout the United States and Canada. In 1936, a national Father's Day Committee was formed.