Flower Mission

Flower Mission (also known as Louisville Flower Mission and Flower Mission Department) was an international women's benevolent association of volunteers. It was founded by Jennie Casseday in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1878.^[1] Epitomizing "friendly visiting" and organized relief,^[2] branches were established in many U.S. cities and foreign countries. The mission's purpose was to carry flowers to those who were sick, poor, or in prison,^[3] and its motto was "Help for all who need it".^[4]

Inspiration

The New York Observer was the most notable religious paper of its day, and had been taken in the Casseday family home since its inception. In 1869, it carried the story of a young Boston woman, teaching in Roxbury, Massachusetts, who, as she passed from place to place, noticed the great waste of flowers and fruits in the gardens of the rich occupants, most notable when the owners were absent, or in the summer. Sometimes, the teacher was given a bunch of roses and these she invariably gave away to the children of the streets, children of poverty. Later, this Boston woman secured baskets of flowers and small fruits and made little detours on her way to school, so as to reach even the poorer districts. It was a simple act, simply done.^[5]

Establishment

"The aim of the Flower Mission is to lead burdened souls up to Christ, and to teach them to cast their cares on Him who careth for them. The work is to cheer and comfort all who need a friend, and to help the poor to help themselves. the text is: Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." -Jennie Casseday^[6]

The Boston story caught the attention and interest of the disabled Casseday, as she lay in her bed. Inspired by it, she came to realize the possibilities of a ministry, for which she developed a plan. Casseday called to her bedside the influential women of Louisville, recognizing that what she hoped to create demanded team work and organization. Those whom she called came and plans were perfected at Casseday's bedside. A public meeting was arranged. Editors offered their columns; reporters did their best to float her project in a favorable fashion, and The Courier-Journal presented the use of a large room in its building with tables ready for tying up flowers. By the time of the first bouquet going forth, the tables were heaped with flowers and the room was crowded with flower missionaries.^[5]

Prison Day

Casseday, confined to narrow quarters because of her disability, soon began thinking of all sorts of "prisoners" and began planning to send the message of the flowers to state prisons. Her board cooperated with her and on Casseday's birthday, June 9, the day was set apart as Flower Mission Prison Day. By this time, Flower Missions had grown up in most of the U.S. States and large plans were made to visit all State and local prisons and reformatories on June 9. The cooperation of officers of prisons was secured beforehand, the number of prisoners learned, and it was asked that prisoners be asked to assemble in their chapels at a fixed hour. It was arranged to present each prisoner with a bouquet made of "something white, something bright, something sweet." A requisite was that each bouquet must have a text of scripture attached to it by a fine wire. Casseday herself selected a large number of texts and had them printed. But a missionary was at liberty to choose her own texts and write them with a pen.^[7]

International expansion

With Flower Missions inaugurated in forty different U.S. states and territories, it did not take long for the story of the Louisville Flower Mission and its invalid designer to spread abroad.^[8] Letters came to Casseday from all over the world.^[7] Baroness Mathilda Wrede introduced Flower Mission methods into prisons in Finland. A "Jennie Casseday Flower Mission" was organized in Pretoria, South Africa, and another in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.^[9]

Woman's Christian Temperance Union department

In 1889, the "Society of Christian Workers" held its annual meeting in New York City and its secretary requested Casseday to send to it information regarding her Flower Mission work. Casseday responded by sending a letter, which was read from the platform. There was at once a large demand for copies of this and it was soon put in booklet form for the convenience of all who wanted to know about this public service:—^[10]

"It was four years after the Louisville Flower Mission was organized that Miss Frances E. Willard was in Louisville, the guest of my sister, Mrs. John Duncan. On the very last morning of her stay, she came to my room and asked me to tell her all about my Mission work. I told it as simply and fully as I could and she listened intently. When I had finished, Miss Willard, with that quick perception and ready insight for which she is so remarkable, saw how Flower Missions might be grafted on to temperance work and bring forth rich harvests of good to both. She rose to her feet exclaiming, 'I have an inspiration; it is to establish a Flower Mission Department of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and put you at its head as National Superintendent.' The very idea appalled me, and I felt it was impossible for me either to take on more work or to think of undertaking, from my little corner, a National Flower Mission.

At the next meeting of the National WCTU in 1881, Willard spoke of Casseday and the Flower Missions. Then she proposed Casseday as "first Superintendent of a new department of the WCTU—the Flower Mission Department." Casseday was unanimously elected, and in a short while, she was elected to be Superintendent of the World's WCTU Flower Mission, which she held until her death.^[11]

Just fifteen years after Casseday had become President of the National Flower Mission, her department reported to the National Convention of the WCTU that the Flower Mission Department had distributed more than 1,555,466 bouquets, 34,972 growing plants, 403,691 text cards, 1,398,122 pages of Flower Mission literature, 38,350 tumblers and jars of jelly and preserves, 15,788 bushels of fruit and vegetables, and 134,211 articles of clothing; 317,735 visits had been made to the poor and sick, besides 14,262 to public institutions, while 19,505 drives and outings were given to poor children, invalids and other worthy people.^[12]

Louisville Flower Mission

Casseday remained as the head of the Louisville Flower Mission, which was not organized under the WCTU, as it was not considered wise to connect its work with that of the temperance association.^[13]

Selected works

The National WCTU Publishing House in Evanston, Illinois published and sold leaflets pertaining to Flower Mission Day on June 9.^[14]

Suggestions for Flower Mission Day and Program for June 9
Sentry Duty for All in the Department of Flower Mission
The Lady of the Flower Mission
Story of the Flower Mission Department—It Blossomed—It Grew—It Spread

References

↑ Applegate, Kris (2014). Legendary Locals of Louisville. Arcadia Publishing. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-4671-0138-7. Retrieved 1 October 2026.
↑ Rice, Alice Caldwell Hegan (19 May 2021). Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch: Enriched edition. A tale of resilience, humor, and heart in the poverty-stricken South. Good Press. p. 21. Retrieved 2 October 2026.
↑ Seekamp, Alwin; Burlingame, Roger (1912). Who's who in Louisville (Public domain ed.). Louisville Press Club. p. 36. Retrieved 1 October 2026.
↑ "The Flower Mission. Its Organization and Objects - Flowers for the Sick and Afflicted". The Muskegon Chronicle (Public domain ed.). 17 May 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 1 October 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
1 2 Duncan 1921, p. 20.
↑ Southard, Clare O., ed. (19 May 1904). "The Overlook, edited by Sarah M. Severance, College Park, San Jose, Cal". The Pacific Ensign. San Francisco: 5–7. Retrieved 1 October 2026.
1 2 Duncan 1921, pp. 21–26.
↑ Griswold 2016, p. 114.
↑ Duncan 1921, p. 29.
↑ Duncan 1921, p. 27.
↑ Duncan 1921, p. 28.
↑ Duncan 1921, p. 41.
↑ "Prison Day. The Work of the Flower Mission Among Prisoners". The Courier-Journal (Public domain ed.). 10 June 1884. p. 8. Retrieved 1 October 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ Willard, Mary Bannister; Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Ames, Julia A.; West, Mary Allen; Stevens, Lillian M. N. Ames; Boole, Ella Alexander; Smith, Ida Belle Wise; Colvin, Mrs D. Leigh; Hays, Mrs Glenn G.; Edgar, Mrs Kermit S. (18 May 1926). "Be Ready for Flower Mission Day June 9th". Union Signal and World's White Ribbon. LII (18) (Public domain ed.). National Woman's Christian Temperance Union: 14. Retrieved 1 October 2026.

Bibliography

Duncan, Fannie Casseday (1921). Jennie Casseday of Louisville: Her Intimate Life as Told by Her Sister, Mrs. Fannie Casseday Duncan... (Public domain ed.). Fannie Casseday Duncan.
Griswold, B. J. (12 May 2016). Crayon and Character: Truth Made Clear Through Eye and Ear: Or, Ten-Minute Talks with Colored Chalks. Krill Press. ISBN 978-1-5312-7056-8.

This page was redesigned at the edge.