Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for May 12, 2017
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
May 12, 2017: In a world where politicians pander to every identifiable constituency, it’s hard to imagine Congress voting against making Mother’s Day a national holiday. But that’s what happened back in 1908.
Despite the rejection from Congress, 84 percent of Americans now celebrate 85 million mothers on Mother’s Day.[1] This annual celebration is a prime example of how culture—not politicians—lead the nation forward.
| West Virginia became the first to celebrate Mother’s Day, and by 1911 every state was celebrating the observance. |
A West Virginia woman named Anna Jarvis began pushing for a Mother’s Day holiday back in 1905, the year her own mother died. In 1908, she put on a memorial for her mother at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, which is now home to the International Mother’s Day Shrine.
When Congress rejected the holiday, Jarvis went to the states. West Virginia became the first to celebrate Mother’s Day, and by 1911 every state was celebrating the observance. President Woodrow Wilson decided it was better late than never for the federal government to catch up, finally declaring Mother’s Day a national holiday in 1914.
Jarvis had envisioned Mother’s Day as a day to celebrate and continue the charity work her mother had done. Among other things, her mother had tended to the wounded on both sides during the Civil War.
Jarvis herself later became discouraged by the commercialization of the celebration. Today, Mother’s Day is the third-busiest retail holiday of the year. Seventy-eight percent of Americans buy Mom a greeting card, 67 percent send flowers, and 55 percent take Mom on a special outing. Other popular choices are gift cards, clothes, and jewelry.[1]
| Jarvis envisioned Mother’s Day as a day to celebrate and continue the charity work her mother had done. |
Recognizing this early on, Jarvis organized boycotts against the celebration she had championed. She even got arrested for disturbing the peace during a 1925 Mother’s Day boycott.[2]
In my new book, Politics Has Failed: America Will Not, I note how people like Anna Jarvis are responsible for bringing about positive change in America. State-by-state action often leads the nation more than the federal government. In fact, women won the right to vote primarily because individual states took the lead.
My book also highlights the fact that the community problem solving Jarvis wanted to celebrate is the key to creating a better world. Politics alone cannot solve the problems facing our nation.
- May 10, 2017 14 chapters in Politics Has Failed: America Will Not; our political system may be broken, but our nation's future is bright
- May 9, 2017 31 percent of young adults live with parents, 27 percent with spouse—big change from 1975
- May 8, 2017 66 percent of young adults have attended college—up from 43 percent in 1975
- May 5, 2017 69.7 percent of 2016 high school graduates are in college
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
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