During the darkest days of the Anglo Boer War the idea to immortalise for posterity the selfless love women and children in the form of a memorial occurred to President Steyn. Immediately after the end of the war serious illness forced him to go to Europe for medical treatment, yet he had not lost sight of his dream.
Upon his return to his farm, Onze Rust, near Bloemfontein in the beginning of March 1905, one of his first tasks was to take steps to realise this long-cherished ambition. Because this was considered to be a matter of national importance in which the nation in general should be consulted, it was decided to call a conference of all the Dutch churches and political organizations in the four colonies to meet in Bloemfontein on 7 February 1907 under the chairmanship of President Steyn.
At the joint conference it was decided that the time has come to erect a monument on South African soil to the glorious memory of the mothers, women and children, who, during the recent war, passed away, or had otherwise suffered bitterly, either in the concentration camps or outside.
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