Did you know that the “Mother’s Day” national holiday is connected to Indianapolis, Notre Dame Football and Monument Circle? Although others may claim to have started Mother’s Day, it was Frank E. Hering, former Notre Dame Football coach, who created the holiday. While Frank Hering’s name has been dwarfed by the shadows of Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian and Holtz, it cannot be denied that he had a profound influence at Notre Dame — and around the country. Hering is considered to be the grandfather of Notre Dame Football, the father of Mother’s Day and the guardian of the dispossessed.
Hering made the first known public plea for “a national day to honor our mothers” in 1904 at a ceremony in the old English Hotel on Monument Circle. The English Opera House was demolished to make room for the J. C. Penney Building which became home to Blue Cross-Blue Shield and headquarters for Wellpoint.
Hering, Notre Dame’s first full-time football coach and editor of the Fraternal Order of Eagles magazine, was a principal speaker at a convention of the F.O.E. gathering at the English Hotel and Opera House. The event was commemorated by the Eagles organization with a plaque that read: “On this site, Sunday February 7, 1904, the first known public plea for a nation-wide observance of Mothers’ Day was made by Frank E. Hering, teacher, orator, humanitarian, in commemoration of Mothers’ Day and in honor of its beloved founder the Fraternal Order of Eagles erects this tablet May 10, 1931.” Later Blue Cross-Blue Shield had the Fraternal Order of Eagles remove the monument, and it now rests in the clubhouse of Indianapolis Aerie #211 at 4220 East 10th Street.
In 1925, the “Society of War Mothers” invited Hering to participate in a special Mother’s Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. There, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, before a large audience that included many congressmen and senators, Hering was introduced as “the Father of Mother’s Day.” But that was over 21 years after Hering’s first public plea, and 11 years after President Woodrow Wilson officially made Mother’s Day the second Sunday in May.
The idea first occurred to Hering while he was still a faculty member of the University of Notre Dame, in his hometown of South Bend, Indiana. Walking into a classroom of a fellow instructor, Hering watched as his colleague distributed penny postcards to his students. They addressed the cards and began to scribble messages on them. “What are they writing?” asked Hering of his fellow teacher. “Anything at all as long as it is to their mothers,” replied his colleague. A light bulb went on in Frank Hering’s head and the idea for a special day to provide formal recognition of mothers was born.
Hering became the F.O.E.’s “Grand Worthy President” in 1909 and began to travel across the country speaking to clubs, making his plea for a national Mother’s Day a standard feature of his appearances at Eagle functions and occasions. In 1912, he recommended that his beloved Eagles hold Mother’s Day exercises “on any Sunday during the year.” Approval was swift, and the F.O.E. was the first to begin a tradition of Mother’s Day. Legislation was introduced in the U.S. Congress by 1914, requesting a presidential proclamation making the second Sunday in May the official date for the holiday. President Woodrow Wilson went along with the idea, and May 10, 1914 became the first official Mother’s Day.
Hering’s dream of a national holiday honoring mothers won widespread acceptance all over the country and several of the groups which had been late in joining the Mother’s Day parade suddenly tried to take credit for the whole idea. The misinformation prompted the Society Of American War Mothers to conduct their own impartial investigation into the matter. After sifting through the divergent claims, the group’s findings were published in the February 1925 issue of its national magazine.
“We have been thoroughly convinced by documented evidence,” it said in the two page article, “that the inspiration for the present Mother’s Day came from a man — Frank E. Hering of South Bend, Indiana — and that the medium through which he carried his campaign over the number of years was the Fraternal Order of Eagles.” The article went on to trace the holiday’s origins to Hering’s first public talks on the subject in 1904 and 1905, and found that “Mr. Hering’s activities and addresses in favor of Mother’s Day antedated by three years, the first observance of Mother’s Day in the city of Philadelphia, which was in May 1908.” So ended the controversy.
Al Hunter is the author of “Haunted Indianapolis” and “Irvington Haunts. The Tour Guide.” and the co-author of the “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest books are “Osborn H. Oldroyd: Keeper of the Lincoln Flame”, “Thursdays with Doc. Recollections on Springfield & Lincoln” and “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
