Amelia
Bloomer
Lindsey Abramson, Laura Eckman, & Staci Gelatka
Biography
• Born in Homer, New York, on
May 27, 1818
• Educated for only 2 years, but
remarkably intelligent
• Became a teacher
• Married Dexter Bloomer
• Wrote articles in support of
prohibition and women's rights in
Dexter's paper
– Seneca Falls Courier
• Joined temperance and women's
rights groups
– S.C. Convention in 1848
Biography
– Jan 1849 - published The Lily - newspaper devoted
entirely to women's issues
• Suffrage, temperance, education, & fashion
– Moved to Mt Vernon, Ohio, in 1854, then Council
Bluffs, Iowa a year later
– Had to sell The Lily when they moved to Mary Birdsall
• Lasted from 1849 - 1853
– Dedicated to women's rights untill her death in Coucil
Bluffs, Iowa, on Dec 30, 1894
Women’s Movement
• Suffrage
– 19th Amendment
– Ratified August 18, 1920
• Fashion of the 1800s
– Corsets, petticoats, and hoop
skirts
– Up to 15 pounds of clothing
– “Hourglass figure”
• Temperance/Prohibition
– Movement to stop the
production and use of alcohol
Individual Contributions
• The Lily- first newspaper published,
edited, and typeset by women
• Wore pants in public - "bloomers"
• Lectures beginning in 1851
• Fashion designer
• Established churches, Good
Templar lodges, suffrage
legislation, and the Soldiers' Aid
Society
• Supported a legal code that ended
the distinction between men and
women's property rights
• Introduced Susan B. Anthony and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1851
Effects of
Specific Contributions
• Encouraged women to throw
off their petticoats and
corsets, wear looser clothing,
with pants underneath a
knee-length skirt
• Argued for women's rights
• Changed social and political
culture
• Increased Awareness
• Leader
• “Amelia Bloomer.” Women of the Hall. National Women’s Hall of Fame.
2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.greatwomen.org/component/fabrik/details/2/21>.
• Bloomer, Amelia. “Petition For Suffrage.” United States History: Early
Years. Houghton Mifflin Social Studies. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/ca/books/bke1/sources/bke1_templ
ate.jsp?name=bloomera&bk=bke1&state=ca>.
• Bloomer, Dexter C. Life and Writings of Amelia Bloomer. Boston: Arena
Pub. Co., 1895. Print.
• Bio. “Amelia Bloomer: Biography.” Bio: True Story. A&E Television
Networks, 2012. Web. 9 Mar 2012.
<http://www.biography.com/people/amelia-bloomer-9216245>.
• Iowa Women’s Archives. “Women’s Suffrage in Iowa: an online exhibit.”
Iowa’s Suffrage Scrapbook – 1854-1920. State Historical Society, Inc.,
and the University of Iowa Libraries, 2011. Web. 9 Mar 2011.
<http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/exhibits/suffrage/suffragehome.html>.
• Kerley, Jessica P. “Amelia Bloomer.” Domesticating the Frontier. Kenyon
College, 11 May 2011. Web. 9 Mar 2012. <
http://www2.kenyon.edu/khistory/frontier/ameliabloomer.htm>.
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• National Park Service. “Amelia Bloomer.” Women’s Rights. U.S.
Department of the Interior, 27 Sept 2007. Web. 9 Mar 2012. <
http://www.nps.gov/wori/historyculture/amelia-bloomer.htm>.
• Ohio History Central. "Temperance Movement." Ohio Historical Society,
2012. Web. 9 Mar 2012.
<http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=560>.
• Ohio History Central. “Amelia J. Bloomer.” Ohio Historical Society, 2012.
Web. 9 Mar 2012. <http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=42>.
• PBS. “Biography: Amelia Bloomer.” Freedom: A History of US. Picture
History and Educational Broadcasting Corporation, 2002. Web. 9 Mar
2012.
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web04/features/bio/B23.html>.
• Simkin, John. “Amelia Bloomer: Biography.” Women’s Suffrage. Spartacus
Educational. Web. 9 Mar 2012.
<http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAWbloomer.htm>.
• Simmons, Linda. “Teaching with Documents: Petition of Amelia Bloomer
Regarding Suffrage in the West.” Teachers. The U.S. National Archives
and Records Administration. Web. 9 Mar 2012.
<http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/bloomer/>.
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"Amelia Bloomer." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Mar. 2012.
Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Bloomer>.
"Best Places to Live in Homer, New York." Best Places to Live. Web. 22
Mar. 2012. <http://www.bestplaces.net/city/new_york/homer>.
"Biographical History of Pottawattmie Co., IA - Dexter Chamberlain
BLOOMER." RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative. Web. 22 Mar.
2012.
<http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gonfishn/bhopci/b/bloomerdc.
html>.
"The Lily and Amelia Jenks Bloomer." Elmira College Faculty Personal
Pages. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.
<http://faculty.elmira.edu/dmaluso/loislane/lily/lily.html>.
"MAY 27, 1818 AMELIA JENKS BLOOMER WAS BORN." Sarah
Potempa. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.sarahpotempa.com/2010/05/27/may-27-1818-amelia-jenksbloomer-was-born/>.
"RHET 760." CCR Notes. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.knavickas.com/femrhet760/blog/2011/05/05/amelia-bloomerdress-reform-the-lily/>.