Women's History

Women's History

Amelia Bloomer:Amelia Bloomer was born in Cortland County, New York, in 1818. She received an education in schools of the State and became a teacher in public schools, then as a private tutor. She married in 1840 to Dexter C. Bloomer, of Seneca Falls, New York. Dexter C. Bloomer was editor of a county newspaper, and Mrs. Bloomer began to write for the paper. She was one of the editors of the Water Bucket, a temperance paper published during Washingtonian revival. Mr. Bloomer lived in Seneca Falls in 1848, but did not participate in the Women’s Rights Convention. In 1849, Bloomer began work with a monthly temperance paper called The Lily. It was devoted to women’s rights and interests, as it became a place for women advocates to express their opinions. The paper initiated a widespread change in women’s dress. The long, heavy skirts were replaced with shorter skirts and knee-high trousers or undergarments. Bloomer’s name soon became associated with to this new dress, and the trousers became known as Bloomers. She continued to new dress and continued advocating for women’s rights in her paper. In 1854, Mrs. Bloomer began giving numerous speeches and continued to fight for equal justice for women.

Carrie S. Burnham: Carrie S. Burnham believed that she had the right to vote and attempted to vote on October 10, 1871. When she tried to vote, her ballot was rejected. She took her argument to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in April 1873. Burhnam thought that “It is not simply whether I shall be protected in the exercise of my inalienable right and duty of self-government, but whether a government, the mere agent of people,...can deny to any portion of its intelligent, adult citizen participation therein and still hold them amenable to its laws.” Burnham petitioned the Court of Common Pleas for the right to vote. She argued that she met the legal definition of the words “freemen” and citizen. The court disagreed, though. Justice Sharswood maintained that citizenship did not entitle one to have rights, and that although women were citizens, it did not entitle them to legally vote.

Anna Ella Carroll (1815 - 1893): Anna Ella Carroll was born on August 29, 1815, near Pocomoke City, Maryland. When the Civil War started, she lived in Washington D.C., and wrote numerous letter, pamphlets, and articles in support of the Union. She published The