“THE SAME POWER THAT BROUGHT THE SLAVE OUT OF BONDAGE WILL , IN

HIS OWN GOOD TIME AND WAY, BRING ABOUTTHE EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN, AND

MAKE HER EQUAL IN POWER AND DOMINIONTHAT SHE WAS IN THE BEGINNING.”

ANDREA RICCA AND ANDI WILKINSON

Amelia Jenks Bloomer

Amelia Jenks Bloomer

Biography

Born in Homer, New York on May 27, 1818Born Amelia JenksMiddle class familyLimited childhood educationMarried Dexter Bloomer at 22Bloomer was a lawyer and part owner of a

local newspaper; forward-thinking; fit with Amelia’s personality

Biography (cont.)

Attended Seneca Falls Convention in 1848Began newspaper for women in January

1849; The Lily: A Ladies Journal Devoted to Temperance and Literature

Began public lectures in 1851Amelia was very active and more well-known

by 1853

Biography (cont.)

While lecturing, she became more involved in the dress reform movement

Wore her new style of clothes to her lectures, called bloomers

Moved to Mount Vernon, Ohio in 1854; her newspaper lasted one more year after moving there

Continued her speeches more out west and Midwest after she moved

Moved again to Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1855Continued fight for women’s rights and became the

first president of the Iowa Woman Suffrage AssociationDied December 30, 1894

Bloomer’s Actions

Attended the Seneca Falls Convention; her first real awareness

InspiredSet out to help women’s rights, suffrage,

temperanceThe Lily: A Ladies Journal Devoted to

Temperance and LiteratureBegan her own lectures

Bloomer’s Actions (cont.)

Bloomer’s Actions (cont.)

Bloomer’s Actions (cont.)

Bloomer’s Actions (cont.)

Bloomer’s Actions (cont.)

Dress-reform movement: Style of clothing known as “bloomers” Loose-fitted blouse with a knee length skirt and

baggy pants Took away from the style of corsets which were

worn to make women have the “number 8” figure By 1860, she stopped wearing bloomers Still believed in dressing comfortably but started

dressing more traditionally to not be distracting at lectures

Bloomer’s Actions (cont.)

Bloomer’s Impact

Women’s options for dress were restricted before her movement

Women typically wore dresses and underneath would wear corsets

The corsets were made to make women look like an “8;” could cause health issues and deformities

Bloomers provided not only an alternative style of dress, but an alternative interpretation of women

Gave them optionsDid not require them to fit a certain profileSpread the message of women’s suffrage and rights