© Copyright 2017 New-York Historical Society but it was also an opportunity to grapple but itwasalsoan opportunity a moralissue,well withinwomen’s sphere, family life. Temperance reform wasseenas of immoral, un-Christian,anddestructive temperance circles, drinkingwasviewed as consumption reached anall-time high.In formed inthe1820s,asAmerican alcohol were ofa growing part movement thathad gave upalcoholaftertheirwedding .They before shemarriedDexter Bloomer, who Amelia’s interest intemperancebegan The Cause Temperance Moving toSeneca Falls self asa“shrinking, bashfulwoman. anonymously reform-minded papers,whichshedid fortheCourierandother to writearticles women’s rights.Dexter encouragedher clue toAmelia’s earlythinkingabout the word “obey” from theirvows, a the who hadjustpurchased, withafriend, In 1840,AmeliamarriedDexter Bloomer, ground forthereformistfertile spirit. entrepreneurs tothearea .Seneca Falls was and brought afairshare ofmavericks and the canalspread ideasalongitspath, new on theErie Canal.Likeanytraderoute, then aboomingmanufacturingcenter A Seneca CountyCourier. Theyomitted wealthy familyinSeneca Falls, she becameagoverness fora New York .In herlateteens, melia Jenks wasborninHomer, .She laterdescribedheryoung ” Amelia Jenks Bloomer Amelia Jenks Bloomer, 1850s .Daguerreotype .Property oftheSeneca Falls Historical Society Life Story 1818–1894 . Saving Washington: The NewRepublic andEarlyReformers, 1790–1860 widening interest inwomen’s rights . saw Stanton’s influence behindthepaper’s Elizabeth CadyStanton .Some people neighbor,publishing piecesby herfiery but inNovember 1849,shebegan the paperandwrote mostofthearticles, temperance movement .Bloomer edited second-class statusinthemale-dominated with women’sborne ofherfrustration bynewspaper andforwomen.It was journal thatwasalsothecountry’s first The 1848, shestarted , atemperance Lily remained hergreat cause.In August thought towomen’s rights. Temperance the timeofconvention, given much Dexter Bloomer saidAmeliahadnot,at “stood aloofandlaughedatus. of Sentiments, and,Stanton complained, convention, didnotsigntheDeclaration ofthe1848women’sonly part rights Episcopal church .Bloomer attended toocloselytiedtoher conservative, in 1847,AmeliaBloomer wastoo Stanton, whomoved toSeneca Falls the samecloth.For Elizabeth Cady movements were notallcutfrom B their latercommitmenttowomen’s rights. temperance activitywasasteppingstonein Susan B.Anthony, andmanyotherwomen, other thancharity ofcoverturethe rules theyhadnorecourse husbands,under or abandonedby drunken of manywomen. When wives were abused with aproblem thatdeeplyaffected thelives ut thewomenofthesereform

.For AmeliaBloomer, ” © Copyright 2017 New-York Historical Society Bloomer outfit(see style withher, anditbecameknown asthe called pantaloons.People associatedthe were dress wearing, ashort over widepants outfitthatshe, new Stanton, andothers of The Lily, shepromoted theastonishing reform thanfortemperance.In thepages Bloomer maybebetterknown fordress Rights Dress Reform and Women’s has not the spirit of a true reformerhas notthespiritofatrue she wrote toSusan B.Anthony, “for she Bloomer’s suggestionswithgreat caution,” found thistroubling .“You musttakeMrs. more .Elizabeth important CadyStanton but shebelieved thattemperancewas dresssupport reform andwomen’s rights, Resource 18 ) .She did . ” together oncauses thatmattered deeplyto confident and witty Mrs .Stanton wasabigpersonality, life tooseriously admitted, “took who, herhusband religious woman fiercely dedicated, Bloomer wasa well .Amelia not alwaysblend people whodid intense, passionate composed of a cause,were committed to like allgroups movements, Women’s reform Amelia Jenks Bloomer . ” .Thetwoworked 90711963 . Division, Washington, D .C, of Congress Prints and Photographs Costume, 1851.LithographLibrary N .Currier (firm),The Bloomer Life Story of theIowa Woman Suffrage Society women’s asthepresident rights, andserved remained committedtotemperanceand which failedwithoutherleadership . She facilities available, AmeliasoldThe Lily, they adoptedtwosons. With noprinting in 1853,andtwoyears latertoIowa, where Amelia andDexter Bloomer moved toOhio . any waysubjecttohercontrol, isuntrue .Thatitever becameher ‘organ,’ orin complain of“malicious misrepresentation . Amelia Bloomer wrote totheReveille to into “the organofthewomen’s rightsparty credited Mrs.Stanton withturningThe Lily Falls Reveille publishedareminiscence that women hadlived inSeneca Falls, theSeneca rivalry them, butnotwithoutdisagreements and .In years afterboth 1880,somethirty 1818–1894 continued . ” Saving Washington: The NewRepublic andEarlyReformers, 1790–1860 . ” Illinois Press, 2004). First Woman’s RightsConvention (Urbana andChicago: University of Wellman, Stanton: An American Life (New York: Hill and Wang, 2009);Judith by M. Waters, 11-1-2016);LoriD.Ginzberg, Elizabeth Cady socialwelfare .library National Park .The Service Social Welfare History Project, http:// Rights . Sources: March 1852.Newspaper Amelia Bloomer, The Lily, Library, HV5285L5v New-York Historical Society ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ movement? reveal abouttheearlywomen’s rights relationship toElizabeth CadyStanton What doesAmeliaJenks Bloomer’s word abouthercause? How didAmeliaJenks Bloomer spread the her activism? into thereform scene?How didthisaffect What causedrew AmeliaJenks Bloomer ” Copiedfrom theHistorical Files maintainedby the “Amelia Bloomer –Publisher andAdvocate for Woman’s The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton andthe Discussion Questions (accessed .vcu .edu/biography/bloomer-amelia/(accessed .4,no .

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