The Lily was published by Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818-1894) on May 1, 1854. The newspaper contains articles on women's rights and temperance. It also documents a work stoppage by male press operators in protest of Amelia Bloomer's insistence on hiring women for that job. The paper is eight pages long and measures 10 by 14 inches (25.4 by 35.56 cm).

Amelia Jenks was born in Homer, New York. She married Dexter Bloomer, a Quaker editor and lawyer in 1840. Mrs. Bloomer became interested in the temperance movement and began writing for local newspapers. She founded her own newspaper The Lily, which was originally published in Seneca Falls, New York. Before long, The Lily began to carry articles on women's suffrage, property rights, education, employment, and dress reform. Bloomer became especially well known for this last issue in 1851, when she urged women to abandon restrictive corsets and heavy skirts in favor of loose trousers and short skirts that later became known as the Bloomer costume. When her husband moved to Mt. Vernon, Ohio to publish a newspaper in 1853, Bloomer accompanied him and continued to publish The Lily. The Bloomers moved to Iowa in 1854 and Mrs. Bloomer continued her involvement in the women's rights movement.