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MOTHER'S DAY
Mother's Day was first suggested in the United States in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe as a day dedicated to peace. A campaign to establish a National Mother's Day was begun in 1907. It was successful, by 1911 Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state in recognition of[1] the influence mothers have in the making of better citizens.
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that the birthday of Mrs. Anna Reeves Jarvis, the \"mother of Mother's Day[2] \", would become the National Mother's Day of the United States. And that from then on, the second Sunday in May would be Mother's Day in memory of the work Mrs. Jarvis had done to bring families together after the Civil war, her work to bring the whole North and South together, her work to honor all the mothers of America throughout history and on into the future, but most of all to honor Mrs. Anna Reeves Jarvis as America's National Mother. President Wilson asked that the American people fly the United States flag from public buildings and homes on that day as he said, as a public expression of our love and reverence[3] for the mothers of our country.
Well, what value is Mother's Day now? As the Congress said in 1914, it reminds people of[4] the influence mothers have had in the making of better citizens. Jarvis was one such mother. On Mother's Day much attention is given to the important part that each mother plays in giving her children a sense of what is right and what is wrong, what is good behavior and what is bad.
If the observances[5] of Mother's Day can even in a small way remind mothers of this, then this day will help both the families and the whole country.
母亲节
1872年，美国的朱丽娅·伍德·霍夫提出设立母亲节的建议，用以纪念和平。继而1907年，人们掀起了一场设立国家母亲节的运动。这项运动取得了成功，到1911年的时候，美国几乎每个州都开始庆祝母亲节，以表达对母亲们在塑造良好公民方面所做出努力的肯定。
1914年，伍德罗·威尔逊总统宣布\"母亲节之母\"安娜·瑞斯文·杰文斯夫人的生日为\"美国国家母亲节\"。从那时起每年五月的第二个星期天都是母亲节，以纪念在内战结束后杰文斯夫人在使家庭团聚方面所做出的种种努力，她的工作使美国南北得以统一，她的工作给历史上所有美国母亲都带来荣誉，这种荣誉会一直继续下去。但是这个节日最主要的还是为了感谢被人们尊称为\"国母\"的--安娜·瑞斯文·杰文斯夫人。威尔逊总统要求，在母亲节那一天，各个公众建筑和每家每户都要挂美国国旗，他说，这是对全国所有的母亲公开表示我们的尊敬和爱戴。
那么，现在母亲节的价值是什么呢？首先，就像在一九一四年国会所宣称的一样，他提醒人们母亲在塑造良好公民方面所做出的努力。杰文斯夫人就是这样一位母亲。在母亲节人们更加关注每个母亲是否真的扮演好自己的角色，教会孩子什么是对，什么是错，什么是好，什么是坏。
如果庆祝母亲节能在提醒母亲们自身责任重大方面起到哪怕一点点作用的话，那么这一天也是有助于家庭和整个社会的。 |
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发表于 2005-4-22 15:17:32