Statue of Mother

Grafton, West Virginia

Weighing four tons, carved from marble, "Mother and Children" occupies a little park next to the International Mother's Day Shrine -- which was the former Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church where the first Mother's Day was celebrated on May 10, 1908. The statue, by William Douglas Hopen, depicts a large woman embracing an infant and a little girl. The girl may represent local resident Anna Jarvis, who spearheaded the idea of Mother's Day as a way to commemorate her own mom.

Unveiled in 1982, the 20th anniversary of the Shrine, Mother and Children was Holden's first public sculpture. He went on to create many others in West Virginia, including one of Space Shuttle astronaut Christa McAuliffe, and one of a dying tunnel worker, titled "Mortality."