The Greek mother goddess was Rhea and the Romans was Magna Mater (Great Mother). In Rome each March 15th there was a three-day celebration called Festival of Hilaria, which was to honor the Great Mother. Gifts were brought to her temple to please her and gain her favor for the coming year. As Christianity spread, a celebration was held to honour the "Mother Church." On the fourth Sunday in Lent, people brought gifts to the church, generally where they had been baptized.

In England during the 17th Century, the fourth Sunday of Lent was referred to as "Mothering Sunday", a day when the children who had left home to find work went back and spent their one yearly holiday with their mothers. Even though the first American settlers came from England, the celebration of Mother's Day was not resumed until 1872 when Julia Ward Howe suggested it as a day dedicated to peace. Miss Howe (also known for writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic) held organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston every year. Miss Howe was never taken seriously and the custom did not catch on nationwide.

Miss Anna Jarvis is considered the real founder of Mother's Day in America. The Civil War ended when Anna was a year old. Anna had heard her mother say that "she hoped sometime, somewhere, someone will found a Mother's Day." Living in West Virginia at the end of the Civil War was diffcult because of the hatred that had split families who followed the North or South. Anna's mother was convinced that if families honoured their mother on a special day, the fighting and hatred would end.

On the second anniversary of her mother's death, Anna's church held a Mother's Day service on May 12, 1907. This service is remembered as the first Mother's Day celebration in the United States. Ms. Jarvis and her supporters wrote to ministers, businessman, and politicians in hopes of establishing a national Mother's Day. On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother's Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.