The women's-rights editor — namesake of “bloomers” — who spent her influential later decades in Council Bluffs.
Amelia Jenks Bloomer launched “The Lily” in 1849 — among the first newspapers edited by and for women — and became a leading voice for suffrage, temperance, and dress reform. Her promotion of a practical style of dress led the public to call the garment “bloomers.”
In 1855 she moved west, settling in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where she spent nearly forty years and remained a prominent advocate for women's rights until her death in 1894.
Bloomer's name entered the language, and her advocacy helped build the suffrage movement. Council Bluffs, her home for decades, remembers her as one of its most notable residents.
She is an important figure in both national and Iowa women's history.
The women's-rights editor — namesake of “bloomers” — who spent her influential later decades in Council Bluffs.
Amelia Bloomer was from Council Bluffs, Iowa.
1818–1894.
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