(We wrote this a couple of years ago for the Concord Journal, and figured it'd be nice to dust it off and spiffy it up for Mother's Day 2011)
Each May, we find ourselves bombarded with commercials and newspaper ads for Mother’s Day. We are enthusiastically reminded to show appreciation for this most essential woman in the form of flowers, jewelry or chocolate. Maybe a spa day. Or, there’s the often talked about but rarely executed Breakfast In Bed, which often comes complete with Disastrous Kitchen, for no extra charge. Card racks are crammed with a profusion of pink sentiments while florists are florid with foliage.
But, the curious might ask, how did we come to officially celebrate Mother’s Day at all? Certainly, we’ve been eulogizing mothers in this world for quite some time. Thousands of years actually, before Hallmark was even a glimmer in the corporate eye.
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| The Goddess Isis, wall painting, c. 1360 B.C. |
One tradition dates back to the ancient Egyptians and the seriously bizarre tale of Isis and her son, Horus, whose father needed to be not only resurrected but also reassembled in order to contribute anything to Horus’ existence. Luckily, Isis was a pretty competent single mom (most goddesses are) and managed to raise Horus well enough to become the first ruler of a unified Egypt, thus ensuring her own title as Mother of the pharaohs. This rather unforgettable story eventually made its way into Roman culture and the Mother Isis became a revered figure, along with Magna Mater, who stems from the earlier Greek Mother deity, Rhea.
A later incarnation of the holiday came from the early Catholics in Europe as worshippers gathered during Lent to honor their “mother church.” By the 1600s, this had expanded to include real, earthly mothers, earning the new denomination Mothering Day. While the British continued the observance of Mothering Sunday in England, its tradition was lost here in the American Colonies for about 200 years.
Fortunately for us, a woman named Anna Jarvis was born in 1864 and achieved historical and legislative success when president Woodrow Wilson signed into law the Mother’s Day proclamation of 1914. For more than six years, Anna had campaigned for the official celebration of Motherhood to be sanctioned and recognized in this country, despite never having achieved that epithet herself.
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| Anna Jarvis |
Instead, Anna was inspired by her own impressive mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis (1832-1905), social activist, pacifist and champion for improved health and sanitary conditions for families during and after the Civil War. Adding to her already saintly stature was the fact Mrs. Jarvis also found time to give birth to twelve (that’s right, TWELVE) children.
What might Concord contribute to a list of historically magnificent matriarchs? If we reach into our past we shall find three women in particular who stand out, even by today’s super-mom standards.
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Silhouette of
Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau |
Although Thoreau’s mother, Cynthia Dunbar, is chiefly known via her relation to Henry David, she can plainly stand on her own achievements. She was an intelligent and outgoing woman admired for her excellent housekeeping skills, extremely generous, and often shared the family table with those in need. Outspoken and opinionated, Cynthia was a bit unconventional (turns out she was five months pregnant at the time of her wedding) but she and her husband John raised four bright, influential, if equally individualist children. Cynthia also participated in the Female Charitable Society, and the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society through which their house became a stop on the Underground Railroad.
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| Abigail Alcott |
Abigail Alcott was of course the mother to our famous Louisa May. While raising her four daughters and supporting the many progressive adventures of her husband, Bronson, Abby also involved herself in the noble causes of women’s suffrage, temperance, relief for the poor and abolition. Before moving to the Orchard House in Concord, Abby helped her husband with his Temple School in Boston and was also one of the first paid social workers in Massachusetts. For a time, the entire family lived at Fruitlands, the communal farm in Harvard where Abby put in long hours of labor. When asked once by a visitor if Fruitlands had any beasts of burden, Abby pointedly replied “only one woman.” And yet, Louisa would later say of her mother, if you loved Marmie from “Little Women,” you would have loved her even more in real life.
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| Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley |
Perhaps the most brilliant and relatively unknown Concord mother was Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley, wife of the Rev. Samuel Ripley and resident of the Old Manse. Beginning at age 4, Sarah ultimately taught herself seven languages and eventually mastered many sciences of the day. These included botany, chemistry, astronomy and mathematics. In later years, Harvard would send its troubled students out to Samuel and Sarah for rustication, where Sarah would tutor them in diverse subjects, all while running a household, participating as a minister’s wife and raising eight children. Even the famously intelligent Ralph Waldo Emerson would seek out his aunt Sarah’s opinions to eagerly discourse with her on matters of theology and metaphysics. (Sheesh! it's no wonder she's often referred to as "Smart Sarah")
So this Sunday, as we reflect on the outstanding mothers in our own lives, perhaps spare a thought for the interesting history of how we came to embrace this special day and three exceptional moms from Concord's past . And by all means, don’t be afraid to do something a little unorthodox to help the celebration along. Although, no reassembling of husbands please, even if you are a goddess!
For those of you in and around Concord, here are a few suggestions of historic-themed things to do this Mother's Day weekend:
