Today is celebrated as Mother’s Day in the United States. In other years, I’ve shared about the older, Mothers’ Day begun by Julia Ward Howe in the years following the American Civil War.
This year, I’m sharing historian Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack on Howe’s views and actions.
Today, I’m wishing peace and equal rights to all mothers and all people everywhere.
Share this:
Joanne Corey 
I read HCR this morning, as I do every morning. Glad to think of you reading it with me! I wish Julia Ward Howe’s concept of Mothers’ Day was more of a focus.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed!
LikeLike
it was a great piece
LikeLiked by 1 person
Definitely! I knew the basic outlines of Howe’s Mothers’ Day declaration but not all of the backstory that HCR provides.
LikeLiked by 1 person
WAM did a one-woman show a couple of years ago about Julia Ward Howe, and it was wonderful, inspirational, and enlightening.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s great! I wish I could have seen it.
LikeLike
I didn’t know this history until I read HCR’s piece–amazing how we sand down the radicalism of history.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had known about it for a number of years from my feminist, Catholic-raised circle. What I hadn’t been aware of was the transformation in viewpoint of Howe, who is mostly remembered in the North as the composer of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
LikeLiked by 1 person