Proclamation 3476—Mothers Day, 1962

Whereas the American home constitutes the very foundation of our Nation; and

Whereas the mothers of our country embody and foster the virtues of love, devotion, and fortitude upon which our homes are founded; and

Whereas it is appropriate that we devote one day each year to expressing publicly the boundless affection, respect, and gratitude we feel for our mothers; and

Whereas, in official recognition of these feelings, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 8, 1914 (38 Stat. 770), designated the second Sunday in May of each year as Mother's Day and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation calling for the public observance of that day:

Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, do hereby request that Sunday May 13, 1962, be observed as Mother's Day, and I direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on that day.

I also call upon the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places as an expression of the reverent esteem in which they hold the mothers of our country.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

DONE at the City of Washington this fifth day of May in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-sixth.

JOHN F. KENNEDY

By the President:

GEORGE W. BALL,

Acting Secretary of State