In the mid-19th century people believed religious, moral, social, or political perfection was obtainable, not unlike Mrs. Amelia Bloomer. Bloomer's battles reflected and influenced gender roles in the 19th century as the United States debated social reforms and constitutional rights, such as the right to petition and the right to vote, among others. Bloomer ultimately succeeded in making her mark as suffragist, editor, and temperance leader, but to many of her contemporaries she was most associated with the Bloomer costume (man-like trousers under a shorter-than-fashionable skirt). Amelia Bloomer's newspaper, "The Lily," once a voice for rational dress reform, advanced the objectives of the women's movement. In 1871 she became president of the Iowa Women's Suffrage Society and supported a legal code that ended the distinction between male and female property rights. She exercised her First Amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. In 1920, the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution brought what she had hoped: a public policy of equality of suffrage for women and men. Six diverse teaching activities are suggested and a copy of Mrs. Bloomer's 1878 petition regarding suffrage in the west is provided. (BT)