Amelia Jenks Bloomer
Amelia Jenks Bloomer
- Born: May 27, 1818 in Homer, NY
- Died: December 30, 1894 in Council Bluffs, IA
- Buried in Fairview Cemetery in Council Bluffs, IA
- Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1995
Feminist fashion icon. Social reformer. Newspaper editor.
Ever wonder where the old-fashioned clothing term “bloomers” came from? Well, buckle up friends, because you’re about to find out.
It’s no secret that in 19th-century polite society, women were required to dress formally in long, cumbersome dresses and skirts. Let’s just say Homer, NY native Amelia Jenks Bloomer was not comfortable with that fashion convention. In fact, she not only liked to wear a baggy pants-and-tunic outfit, but she often wrote about it in a wide-reaching women’s rights publication she edited and published.
Her articles in The Lily included illustrations, which resulted in letters flooding in from all over the country with inquiries about the “costume” and requesting patterns. Much to the dismay of conservative men and women alike, Amelia had popularized the wearing of these practical, yet revolutionary pantaloons so much so that they became forever known as ‘bloomers.’
Amelia’s activism extended well beyond dress reform. She was passionately involved in temperance issues and worked within the suffragist movement under the heavy influence of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who wrote articles for The Lily under the pseudonym “Sunflower.”
“It will not do to say that it is out of woman’s sphere to assist in making laws, for if that were so, then it should be also out of her sphere to submit to them.” — Amelia Jenks Bloomer
Learn more about Amelia Jenks Bloomer
At the center of Seneca Falls, visitors will find a statue of three women overlooking the Seneca River. “When Anthony Met Stanton” is a moment in history that has been immortalized in bronze, featuring life-sized sculptures of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony being introduced by none other than Amelia Bloomer (wearing, of course, her signature ‘bloomers’).
Folks interested in learning more about Amelia and walking in her footsteps – literally – can see her childhood home at 43 N. Main Street in Homer, NY. A historical marker from the Pomeroy Foundation marks its significance.
