On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day "as a public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of our country." View the original proclamation from the National Archives

Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family, motherhood, and the influence of mothers in society. This guide provides access to materials related to “Mother's Day” in the Library of Congress Chronicling America digital collection of historic newspapers.

American motherhood has changed in many ways since Mother’s Day was first celebrated more than 100 years ago. Today’s moms are more educated than ever before. A majority of women with a young child are in the labor force, and more mothers are serving as their family’s sole or primary “breadwinner.” At the same time, the share of mothers who are stay-at-home moms has held steady in recent decades after falling precipitously in the 1970s and 1980s.
View key findings about American mothers and motherhood from Pew Research Center reports:

Discover interesting data and fun facts associated with mothers from the U.S. Census Bureau

Acknowledging the influence of moms isn’t just the stuff of Mother’s Day cards; it also became a major finding and theme in a recent Barna study of practicing Christians’ homes in the U.S. The Households of Faith report, produced in partnership with Lutheran Hour Ministries, finds that mothers—more often than fathers, or any other category of frequent participants in households—are seen as the confidants, providers of support and drivers of faith formation.