There is no doubt that Mom is one of the people who has done the most for us, so thanking her is not strange. It’s also no surprise that all over the world we celebrate Mother’s Day. As we well know, this commemoration has dates as different as March 21 in Egypt or August 15 in Belgium, but the most common is that it is celebrated on May 10. It should be noted that the origin of that date dates back to ancient Greece, where Mother’s Day was established in honor of ‘Rhea’, who was also known as ‘the mother of the gods’, as indicated by the National Institute of Women (Inwomen)
Origin of Mother’s Day The contemporary origin of Mother’s Day is from activist Julia Ward Howe. In 1872, Howe suggested creating the holiday as a way to unite women and advocate for peace. However, the official recognition of Mother’s Day was not achieved until 1907 thanks to Anna Jarvis, since she was the one who held the first celebration in honor of her own mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis. In 1914, then-President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, signed a bill to recognize Jarvis Mother’s Day as a national holiday.
How did Mother’s Day in Mexico come about? In the case of Mexico, Mother’s Day emerged in 1922 thanks to the initiative of José Vasconcelos, then Secretary of Public Education, and Rafael Alducín, journalist and founder of the ‘Excelsior’ media outlet, who agreed to institute a specific day to pay tribute to mothers.Likewise, inspired by the celebrations in the United States, on April 13, 1922, Alducín launched a call on the front page of his newspaper to ask the government to institutionalize one day a year dedicated to Mexican mothers.
According to the document published by the Secretariat of Urban Development and Housing of CDMX, the newspaper “Excelsior” published the following: “Excelsior intends that the tenth of May of every year be consecrated by the children to extol in life or in memory those who they gave them to be”.Given this, years later, Manuel Ávila Camacho, then president of Mexico, laid the first stone of the Monument to the Mother in Mexico City. This monument was established in 1949 by the president, Miguel Alemán Valdés, along with a bronze plaque with the phrase: “To the one who loved us before we met.”
