Declaration of principles, platform, constitution and by-laws of the National Citizens' Industrial Alliance and proceeding of the National Assembly held at Topeka, January 13 to 17, 1891
Creator: National Citizen's Industrial Alliance
Date: 1891
This pamphlet provides information about the efforts to organize the National Citizens' Industrial Alliance. The organization was trying to unite farmers and laborers into one reform organization to promote issues such as the abolition of national banks, unlimited coinage of silver and gold, and federal laws prohibiting alien ownership of land, dealing in agricultural futures, fair taxation, etc. The group was organized at a meeting January 13--17, 1891, in the Knights of Labor Hall, Topeka, Kansas. Many of these ideas were adopted by the Populists and Populist supporters mentioned in the pamphlet include W. F. Rightmire, S.N. Wood, Mary E. Lease, and Annie Diggs. The constitution and by-laws deal with procedures rather than issues.

Joint Debate Between Mrs. M. E. Lease and J. M Brumbaugh
Creator: Lease, Mary Elizabeth, 1853-1933
Date: July 20, 1891
This debate between Mary Elizabeth Lease and J. M. Brumbaugh occurred in Concordia, Kansas on July 20, 1891. They debated land, finance, and transportation questions though a formal question concerning national banks and issuing legal tender treasury notes is listed in the pamphlet. Mrs. Lease was allocated 70 minutes, Mr. Brumbaugh 90 minutes, and Mrs. Lease an additional 20 minutes at the end. A note at the end of the pamphlet indicated that the account of the debate had been recorded by a court stenographer so it was believed to be accurate. Mrs. Lease represented the Populist viewpoint and Mr. Brumbaugh the Republican perspective.

Mary E. Lease to Joseph Hebbard
Creator: Lease, Mary Elizabeth, 1850-1933
Date: September 11, 1890
In this brief letter Mary Elizabeth Lease, a Populist reformer who spoke out against the mistreatment of farmers, thanks Joseph Hebbard, treasurer of the Farmer's Alliance, for his help. She also asks him to do her one more favor: send some information about poverty demographics compiled by the Republicans in order to "dose them with their own medicine." Lease is apparently writing from Hiawatha, Kansas.

Mary Elizabeth Lease
Date: Between 1890 and 1900
This is a studio portrait of Mary Elizabeth Lease, a formidable agitator for the Populist Party.

Mary Elizabeth Lease
Creator: McInturff, A.
Date: 1892
This is a studio portrait of Mary Elizabeth Lease, the Joan of Arc of the Kansas Populists.

Mary Elizabeth Lease
Creator: Kansas City Star
Date: March 29, 1931
A portrait of Populist "Mary Elizabeth Lease as she appeared in 1895 when she was at the height of her political activities in Kansas." The illustration was copied from the March 29, 1931, issue of "The Kansas City Star" newspaper, and is surrounded by a portion of an article written about Lease. A passionate speaker within the Populist Party, Lease, 1850-1933, urged Kansas farmers to "raise less corn and more hell" in their resistance to big business.

Mary Elizabeth Lease
Date: 1890s
Studio portrait of Mary Elizabeth Lease, a lawyer, orator, and Populist reformer.

Mary Elizabeth Lease
Date: Between 1890 and 1899
Portrait of Mary Elizabeth Lease, 1853-1933, wearing a graduation gown and holding a cap.

Mary Elizabeth Lease
Creator: Hardin & Ostergren
Date: Between 1890 and 1899
This is a portrait of Mary Elizabeth Lease, 1853-1933, a lawyer, orator, and supporter of the Populist Party.

Mary Elizabeth Lease
Creator: Deane
Date: Between 1890 and 1899
Mary Elizabeth (Clyens) Lease is perhaps the best-known Kansas Populist. She was born in Pennsylvania on September 11, 1850 to Irish immigrants. At the age of twenty she moved to Osage Mission, Kansas, in order to teach school at St. Anne's Academy. While there, she met and married Charles L. Lease, a local pharmacist. After several unsuccessful attempts at farming, Lease turned her attention to the plight of her fellow farmers, and by 1890, her passionate criticisms of railroads and big business made her a formidable force in the newly formed People's (Populist) Party. She became a well-known lecturer for the Populist cause, traveling throughout the West, Midwest, and South. Although this statement has in fact been misattributed to her, she is most known for her assertion that farmers must "raise less corn and more hell." Her zeal and refusal to compromise eventually alienated her from mainstream Populists, and by 1896 she had turned her attention toward other reform causes, including prohibition and suffrage. She divorced Charles in 1902, spending the remainder of her life living with various children on the Atlantic coast. She passed away on October 29, 1933 in New York state.

Mary Elizabeth Lease
Date: Between 1890 and 1899
A drawing of Mary Elizabeth Lease, a Populist, lawyer, and experienced orator. She is reported to have said that farmers should raise "less corn and more hell." More an agitator than a practical politician, by 1896 Lease had become alienated from the Populist Party, and thereafter she turned to personal interests.

Mary Elizabeth Lease biographical sketch
Date: Between 1892 and 1894
This handwritten document is signed by Ja's Arnold but was likely written by Mary Elizabeth Lease. It includes a brief sketch of the years leading up to Lease's adulthood and her political goals and accomplishments, including the removal of Kansas Senator John J. Ingalls from office.

Mary Elizabeth Lease handprint
Date: April 1, 1899
Mary Elizabeth Lease's handprint. This print was created during Lease's trip to Lily Dale, New York. Mary Elizabeth Lease was a lawyer, orator, and Populist reformer.

Mary Elizabeth Lease, the distinguished author and lecturer
Date: Between 1890 and 1900
An advertising pamphlet promoting Mary Elizabeth Lease as a popular lecturer. The advertisement contains excerpts from several newspapers touting her oratorical abilities, and a list of Lease's lecture titles divided into three categories: political and economic, literary, and patriotic.

Mary Elizabeth Murray Clyens
Date: Between 1870s and 1890s
This sepia colored photograph shows Mary Elizabeth Murray Clyens, the mother of Populist reformer, Mary Elizabeth Lease. Clyens, an accomplished scholar and descendent of the Scottish Clan of Moray, arrived in America in June 1849, with her husband Joseph P. Clyens and two of their five children from Liverpool, England. The family eventually farmed in the Allegheny mountains of Pennsylvania.