Mother's Day was first proposed by Julia Ward Howe, author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" in 1872. Ms. Howe organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Massachusetts every year. In 1907, Anna Jarvis, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania launched a campaign to establish Mother's Day on a national level. She appealed to her own mother's church in West Virginia to observe the day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, which was the second Sunday of May. Ms. Jarvis' movement grew as she and her cohorts contacted politicians, pastors, and other key leaders to promote the establishment of a day she envisioned as a time when children could formally demonstrate respect for their mothers and reinforce family bonds. Anna's efforts bore success and by 1911, Mother's Day observances were across our country. On May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution of the Congress (38 Stat. 770) designating the second Sunday in May each year as "Mother's Day" and requesting the president to call for its appropriate observance. unknown sources