Amelia Bloomer, born on this day in 1818, was an early American feminist associated with the "bloomers" clothing style. She was also the first American woman to own, edit, and operate a newspaper for women.

Even though Amelia did not create the "bloomers" clothing style, a comfortable alternative to the heavy, constricting dresses women were expected to wear, her name became associated with the style because of her early and strong advocacy for them.

By publishing the magazine the "Lily", Bloomer became the first woman to own, operate and edit a newspaper for women. The scholarly journal American Journalism described the magazine like this: "The issues addressed in the Lily—marital relations, political representation, property ownership, education and work opportunities, fair wages, fashion customs, women’s health, religion, and gendered social norms—reflected a broad-based agenda for feminism that is familiar today. At the same time, the journal’s privileging of middle-class white womanhood exposed fissures and blind spots related to race and class that would reverberate for generations."

As an early advocate of women's rights, Bloomer was also responsible for introducing Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to each other.

"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 Bloomer