Today in Writing History June 4, 1917: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall won the first Pulitzer prize for biography. They wrote about their mother Julia Ward Howe, the feminist, abolitionist, pacifist author and poet. You can read the biography here.

Howe not only wrote the lyrics to The Battle Hymn of the Republic; she also wrote the pacifist 1870 Mother’s Day Proclamation. Also known as the Appeal to Womanhood Throughout the World, the proclamation called on women to unite worldwide for peace. In 1872, Howe called for a Mother’s Day for Peace to be celebrated each year on June 2. Yet today, women throughout the U.S. and Europe (along with the men) are calling for ever more heavy weaponry and NATO troops to be sent to the Ukrainian killing fields, where over 200,000 Ukrainians have already lost their lives, and where this now direct NATO involvement risks precipitating WWIII between nuclear-armed powers, neither of which show any indication that they are willing to back down or negotiate an end to the slaughter. Where is the peace movement today? Or, is some slaughter justified in the name of capitalism (er, I mean against despotism)? And, if that is true, where are all the people screaming for war against India? Philippines? Italy? Saudi Arabia? El Salvador? Egypt? Sudan? And Israel?

#workingclass #LaborHistory #mothersday #JuliaWardHowe
#peace #antiwar #pulitzer #ukraine #russia #freedom #capitalism #feminism #abolition #nato #writer #biography #author @bookstadon

Today in Labor History May 15, 1872: Julia Ward Howe declared the first Mother's Day as an anti-war holiday. Howe was an abolitionist and a feminist who wrote the lyrics for the Battle Hymn of the Republic. However, despite her disgust with slavery, she never thought black and white people were equal. She wanted to create a "Mother's Day For Peace," where mothers would ask that their husbands and sons to no longer get killed in wars. In 1870, she called upon mothers of all nationalities to promote the "amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace." In 1907, Anna Jarvis held the first official Mother’s Day at an Episcopalian Church in Virginia. She wanted to honor Howe’s original vision, and to set aside a day to honor all mothers because she believed a mother is "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world."

"...the Fourteenth Amendment, which established that Black men were citizens, did not explicitly include women in that right. Worse, it introduced the word 'male' into the Constitution when it warned states against preventing 'male inhabitants' from voting."
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/may-11-2024?r=63j6s&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
#MothersDay #JuliaWardHowe

Tomorrow in History May 15, 1872: Julia Ward Howe declared the first Mother's Day as an anti-war holiday. Howe was an abolitionist and a feminist who wrote the lyrics for the Battle Hymn of the Republic. However, despite her disgust with slavery, she never thought black and white people were equal. She wanted to create a "Mother's Day For Peace," where mothers would ask that their husbands and sons to no longer get killed in wars. In 1870, she called upon mothers of all nationalities to promote the "amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace." In 1907, Anna Jarvis held the first official Mother’s Day at an Episcopalian Church in Virginia. She wanted to honor Howe’s original vision, and to set aside a day to honor all mothers because she believed a mother is "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world."

I am confirmed in my division of human energies. Ambitious people climb, but faithful people build
#JuliaWardHowe