{"id":19488,"date":"2021-07-25T14:15:19","date_gmt":"2021-07-25T21:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=19488"},"modified":"2021-07-25T14:15:21","modified_gmt":"2021-07-25T21:15:21","slug":"bio-amelia-bloomer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/07\/25\/bio-amelia-bloomer\/","title":{"rendered":"BIO: AMELIA BLOOMER"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AMELIA BLOOMER<\/th><\/tr>
<\/td><\/tr>
BORN<\/th>Amelia Jenks
May 27, 1818
Homer, New York<\/a>, United States<\/td><\/tr>
DIED<\/th>December 30, 1894 (aged 76)
Council Bluffs, Iowa<\/a>, United States<\/td><\/tr>
MONUMENTS<\/th>Amelia Bloomer House<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
NATIONALITY<\/th>American<\/td><\/tr>
OCCUPATION<\/th>Women\u2019s rights<\/a> and temperance<\/a> advocate<\/td><\/tr>
KNOWN FOR<\/th>Publicizing the idea of women wearing pants which came to be known as \u201cBloomers\u201d<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
NOTABLE WORK<\/th>owner\/editor of The Lily<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
SPOUSE(S)<\/th>Dexter Bloomer (m. 1840)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

Amelia Jenks Bloomer<\/strong> (May 27, 1818 \u2013 December 30, 1894) was an American women\u2019s rights<\/a> and temperance<\/a> advocate. Even though she did not create the women\u2019s clothing reform style known as bloomers<\/a>, her name became associated with it because of her early and strong advocacy. In her work with The Lily<\/a>,<\/em> she became the first woman to own, operate and edit a newspaper for women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Amelia Jenks was born in 1818 in Homer, New York<\/a>, to Ananias Jenks and Lucy (Webb) Jenks. She came from a family of modest means and received only a few years of formal education in the local district school.[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Career<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After a brief time as a school teacher at the age of 17, she decided to relocate, and moved in with her newly married sister Elvira, then living in Waterloo. Within a year she had moved into the home of the Oren Chamberlain family in Seneca Falls<\/a> to act as the live-in governess for their three youngest children.[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 15, 1840, when she was 22, she married law student Dexter Bloomer who encouraged her to write for his New York newspaper, the Seneca Falls County Courier<\/a><\/em>. Bloomer supported her activism; he even gave up drinking as part of the Temperance<\/a> Movement.[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She spent her early years in Cortland County<\/a>, New York. Bloomer and her family moved to Iowa<\/a> in 1852.[3]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social activism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1848, Bloomer attended the Seneca Falls Convention<\/a>, the first women\u2019s rights<\/a> convention, though she did not sign the Declaration of Sentiments<\/a> and subsequent resolutions, due to her deep connection with the Episcopal Church.<\/a> This meeting would serve as her inspiration to start her newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following year, she began editing the first newspaper by and for women, The Lily<\/a><\/em>. Published biweekly from 1849 until 1853, the newspaper began as a temperance journal, but came to have a broad mix of contents ranging from recipes to moralist tracts, particularly when under the influence of suffragists<\/a> Elizabeth Cady Stanton<\/a> and Susan B. Anthony<\/a>. Bloomer felt that because women lecturers were considered unseemly, writing was the best way for women to work for reform. Originally, The Lily was to be for \u201chome distribution\u201d among members of the Seneca Falls Ladies Temperance Society, which had formed in 1848, and eventually had a circulation of over 4,000. The paper encountered several obstacles early on, and the Society\u2019s enthusiasm died out. Bloomer felt a commitment to publish and assumed full responsibility for editing and publishing the paper. Originally, the title page had the legend \u201cPublished by a committee of ladies.\u201d But after 1850 \u2013 only Bloomer\u2019s name appeared on the masthead.[4]<\/a><\/sup> This newspaper was a model for later periodicals focused on women\u2019s suffrage<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bloomer described her experience as the first woman to own, operate and edit a news vehicle for women:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a needed instrument to spread abroad the truth of a new gospel to woman, and I could not withhold my hand to stay the work I had begun. I saw not the end from the beginning and dreamed where to my propositions to society would lead me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Bloomer SuitDepiction of Amelia Bloomer wearing the famous \u201cbloomer\u201d costume which was named after her (a tunic + \u201cpantelettes\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her publication, Bloomer promoted a change in dress standards for women that would be less restrictive in regular activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The costume of women should be suited to her wants and necessities. It should conduce at once to her health, comfort, and usefulness; and, while it should not fail also to conduce to her personal adornment, it should make that end of secondary importance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In 1851, New England temperance activist Elizabeth Smith Miller<\/a> (aka Libby Miller) adopted what she considered a more rational costume: loose trousers gathered at the ankles, like women\u2019s trousers worn in the Middle East and Central Asia, topped by a short dress or skirt and vest.[5]<\/a><\/sup> The costume was worn publicly by actress Fanny Kemble<\/a>.[citation needed<\/a><\/em>]<\/sup> Miller displayed her new clothing to Stanton, her cousin, who found it sensible and becoming, and adopted it immediately. In this garb Stanton visited Bloomer, who began to wear the costume and promote it enthusiastically in her magazine.[citation needed<\/a><\/em>]<\/sup> Articles on the clothing trend were picked up in The New York Tribune.<\/a><\/em> More women wore the fashion which was promptly dubbed The Bloomer Costume<\/em> or \u201cBloomers<\/a>\u201c.[citation needed<\/a><\/em>]<\/sup> However, the Bloomers were subjected to ceaseless ridicule in the press and harassment on the street.[citation needed<\/a><\/em>]<\/sup> Bloomer herself dropped the fashion in 1859, saying that a new invention, the crinoline<\/a>, was a sufficient reform that she could return to conventional dress.[citation needed<\/a><\/em>]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also in 1851, Bloomer introduced the suffragettes<\/a> Elizabeth Cady Stanton<\/a> and Susan B. Anthony<\/a> to each other.[6]<\/a><\/sup>[7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1854, when Bloomer and her husband decided to move to Council Bluffs, Iowa, Bloomer sold The Lily<\/em> to Mary Birdsall<\/a> in Richmond, Indiana. Birdsall and Dr. Mary F. Thomas<\/a> kept the publication going at least through 1859.[1]<\/a><\/sup>[8]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bloomer remained a suffrage pioneer and writer throughout her life, writing for a wide array of periodicals. Although Bloomer was far less famous than some other feminists, she made many significant contributions to the women\u2019s movement \u2014 particularly concerning dress reform. Bloomer also led suffrage campaigns in Nebraska and Iowa and served as president of the Iowa Woman Suffrage Association from 1871 until 1873.[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Death and burial<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

She died in 1894, at the age of 76, and is buried in Fairview Cemetery, Council Bluffs, Iowa.[9]<\/a><\/sup>[10]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commemorations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Statue, called \u201cWhen Anthony Met Stanton\u201d, immortalizing the 1851 meeting of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Amelia Bloomer in Seneca Falls, New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is commemorated together with Elizabeth Cady Stanton<\/a>, Sojourner Truth<\/a>, and Harriet Ross Tubman<\/a> in the calendar of saints<\/a> of the Episcopal Church<\/a> on July 20. In 1975 she was inducted into the Iowa Women\u2019s Hall of Fame<\/a>.[11]<\/a><\/sup> In 1980 her home at Seneca Falls, New York<\/a>, known as the Amelia Bloomer House<\/a>, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places<\/a>.[3]<\/a><\/sup> In 1995 she was inducted into the National Women\u2019s Hall of Fame<\/a>.[12]<\/a>[13]<\/a><\/sup> In 1999 a sculpture by Ted Aub was unveiled commemorating when on May 12, 1851, Bloomer introduced Susan B. Anthony<\/a> to Elizabeth Cady Stanton<\/a>.[14]<\/a>[6]<\/a><\/sup> This sculpture, called \u201cWhen Anthony Met Stanton\u201d, consists of the three women depicted as life-size bronze statues, and is placed overlooking Van Cleef Lake in Seneca Falls, New York<\/a>, where the introduction occurred.[6]<\/a>[14]<\/a><\/sup> From 2002 until 2020, the American Library Association<\/a> produced an annual Amelia Bloomer List<\/em> of recently published books with significant feminist content for younger readers. However, in 2020 the list\u2019s name was changed to Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0\u201318, explained as such: \u201cThe project has been promoting quality feminist literature for young readers since 2002 as a part of the Feminist Task Force and the Social Responsibilities Round Table [both of the American Library Association]. This year,[when?<\/a><\/em>]<\/sup> the committee was made aware that, though Amelia Bloomer had a platform as a publisher, she refused to speak against the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850<\/a> (Simmons [Referring to \u201cSimmons, L. (2016, September 23). Petition of Amelia Bloomer regarding suffrage in the West. National Archives. Retrieved from [1]<\/a>.]). SRRT and FTF believe librarians and libraries must work to correct social problems and inequities with particular attention to intersectionality, feminism, and deliberate anti-racism. As a result, the committee unanimously voted in favor of a name change. Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18, reflects the diversity and inclusion for which feminism as a whole \u2014 and this committee specifically\u2014strives.\u201d[15]<\/a>[16]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More at: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Amelia_Bloomer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia AMELIA BLOOMER BORN Amelia JenksMay 27, 1818Homer, New York, United States DIED December 30, 1894 (aged 76)Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States MONUMENTS Amelia Bloomer House NATIONALITY American OCCUPATION Women\u2019s rights and temperance advocate KNOWN FOR Publicizing the idea of women wearing pants which came to be known as \u201cBloomers\u201d NOTABLE WORK owner\/editor… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19488"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19489,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19488\/revisions\/19489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}