One thing I hadn’t known is the anti-war, pro-peace aspect of Mothers’ Day. An early proponent of Mothers’ Day was Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the (pro-war) lyrics to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Maybe she had second thoughts.

Here’s a passage from her 1870 First Mother’s Day Proclamation:

Say firmly:
We will not have questions decided by irrelevant agencies.
Our husbands shall not come to us reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all
that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience.
We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.

I would love to know what she meant by “irrelevant agencies.”

HT to Eric Garris.