Mother's Day became holiday in 1914

by Tom Emery

Mothers everywhere will rejoice. So will the greeting-card companies, flower shops, and telephone providers.

Though celebrated in pockets in previous years, Mother’s Day has been an official holiday since May 9, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as a day to honor the nation’s mothers.

“The signing was not that important to Wilson in a political sense. But it would not have taken much persuasion for Wilson to sign it,” said Andrew Phillips, curator of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in Stanton, Va. “Strong women w...