WVU Press publishes book about Mother’s Day founder

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University Press has published a book about the founder of Mother’s Day.

The book is titled “Memorializing Motherhood: Anna Jarvis and the Struggle for Control of Mother’s Day.”

The Grafton native founded Mother’s Day as a tribute to her mother. The first service was held in 1908 in Grafton, three years after her mother’s death. It became a national observance in 1914.

Written by West Virginia Wesleyan College professor Katharine Lane Antolini, the book explores Jarvis’ work to establish Mother’s Day and her fight against its commercialization.

Antolini serves on the board of the International Mother’s Day Shrine in Grafton.