Mothers Day

Motherhood
"Mine! This tiny dimpled creature of rose
Still wrapped in lingering breath of Heaven's oer-fume.

Mine! The shining little eyes,
The leaf-curled nose,
The little mouth,
Like a small rose,
A-nuzzling at my breast.

But scarce a month
And all the garden of his face
Was not, and all his grace.
One month, and yet it seems a year,
Since first I trod that path of pain and fear
Till out of all my anguish
Came my bliss,
When God reached down from Heaven
And gave me this!"
--Louisa Cooke Don-Carlos
(From Poetry of Kansas, Blue Skyways website)

In Great Britain many call it Mothering Sunday and celebrate Mum on the third Sunday of the Christian season of Lent. In Thailand mothers are feted on August 12th, the birthday of the Queen, who is considered the "Mother of the Nation." In the United States and many other countries the second Sunday of May is set aside as Mother's Day. The day may be different but mothers are honored at least one day out of the year in over 140 countries around the world.

Below are links to information on Mother's Day and mothers provided by government and nongovernment websites. Among these web resources are one audio, one audio-visual and a "passport" into a virtual Mother's Day display within Second Life:

Mother's Day History and Culture

Honor Your Mother (Library of Congress "Wise Guide")
http://www.loc.gov/wiseguide/may03/mother.html

Mother's Day History (Mother's Day Central)
http://www.mothersdaycentral.com/about-mothersday/history/

Julia Ward Howe (Mother's Day Central)
http://www.mothersdaycentral.com/about-mothersday/history/famous-moms/julia-ward-howe.php
(An early proponent of Mother's Day)

Anna M. Jarvis (West Virginia Division of Culture & History)
http://www.wvculture.org/history/thisdayinwvhistory/0508.html
(The "Mother" of the modern holiday, Mother's Day)

Old Mother's Day film trailer (Internet Archive)
http://www.archive.org/details/MovieTra1934
(Watch a short tribute to mothers from long ago)

U.S. Mother's Day Shrine
http://www.mothersdayshrine.com/index.php

"Women in the Wheat Country" / by Pamela Riney-Kehrberg
http://www.kshs.org/publicat/history/2000springsummer_riney_kehrberg.pdf
(Online reprint of article appearing in Kansas History, Spring-Summer 2000 (Vol. 23, No. 1-2)

Information from the U.S. Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/
2008 Press Release
2007 Press Release
2006 Press Release
2005 Press Release

Poetry About Mothers
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5868

10 Poems for Mother's Day
http://www.poemofquotes.com/articles/10-poems-for-mothers.php

Quotes About Mothers
http://www.quotegarden.com/mom-day.html

Second Graders Recite Their Mothers Day Poems
http://www.archive.org/details/HappyMothersDayFromMs.PrevettsClass
(An Internet Archive Audio File of a second grade class reading poetry)










Virtual Mother's Day Display
Alliance Virtual Library Info Island Second Life
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/83/54/35
(The above "SLURL" is a direct link to this display within Second Life. To view this display within the Second Life Virtual world/game one needs to register for free
How to Join Second Life
System Requirements