Anna Jarvis is credited with initiating the modern Mother's Day holiday in the United States.
After her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died in 1905, Anna promoted a day honoring mothers through personal remembrance and family affection. On May 10, 1908, she organized a major memorial observance connected with Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, and a simultaneous event at Wanamaker's in Philadelphia. She also sent 500 white carnations, her mother's favorite flower, to the Grafton service.
Jarvis's persistent letters and lobbying helped spread the observance across the country. West Virginia recognized Mother's Day as a state holiday in 1910, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May a national observance. Jarvis's campaign made her the accepted founder of the modern American holiday.
Several names can cause confusion. Ann Reeves Jarvis inspired Anna and had created Mothers' Day Work Clubs, while Julia Ward Howe promoted an earlier Mother's Day for Peace. Constance Adelaide Smith helped popularize Mothering Sunday in Britain. Those figures influenced related traditions, but Anna Jarvis is the canonical answer for the modern U.S. holiday.