“I, Hiram W. Johnson, governor of California, do hereby designate Saturday, 24 day of October [1914] as Pioneer Mother’s Day,  to be observed as a tribute to the women of the days of ’49, and in furtherance of the work of building a monument which shall grace the Panama Pacific International Exposition and remain an enduring testimonial to honor a grateful state pays their memory.

“It is proposed to raise a fund of $25,000 for the very worthy project, and I wish to join in asking a generous response from all California, in order that the sum may on that day be adequate.”

To fulfill Johnson’s goal, the Pioneer Mother Monument Association was organized. That association delegated the Native Daughters of Golden West to raise the money. It should be noted that the monument, a bronze statue, had been in a planning stages for some time. Prior Johnson’s proclamation, Charles Grafly had been commissioned to do the bronze statute. Graftly proposal met with controversy. You can read more about it here.

The statue located near the Palace of Fine Arts did not garner that much attention. After the exposition it was neglected. In the  1930s, it was restored and relocated to Golden State Park.

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Notes of Note: 1. Governor Johnson asked the women of California to pay for the monument in their honor. 2. In 1914,  President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the the 2nd Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.