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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.
Creator: Deane
Date: Between 1890 and 1899
This image could be grouped with a number of sources relating to Lease and her role in the development of the Populist movement.
KS:7th:4.2:Populism (2005)
Item Number: 690
Call Number: B Lease, Mary *2
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 690
Agriculture - Farm organizations - Farmer's Alliance
Business and Industry - Occupations/Professions - Lawyers
Business and Industry - Occupations/Professions - Politicians
Collections - Photograph
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1880s to 1920s (Benchmark 4) - Populism (Indicator 2) - "Free silver"
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1880s to 1920s (Benchmark 4) - Populism (Indicator 2) - Disillusionment with big business
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1880s to 1920s (Benchmark 4) - Populism (Indicator 2) - Government corruption
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1880s to 1920s (Benchmark 4) - Populism (Indicator 2) - High debts and low prices for farmers
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1880s to 1920s (Benchmark 4) - Populism (Indicator 2) - Rise of the third-party system
Date - 1890s
Government and Politics - Political Parties - Populist
Government and Politics - Reform and Protest - Farm movements - Farmer's Alliance
Government and Politics - Reform and Protest - Populism
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Photograph - Cabinet cards
People - Notable Kansans - Lease, Mary Elizabeth, 1853-1933
People - Women
Thematic Time Period - Age of Reform, 1880 - 1917 - Populism, 1890 - 1900
Type of Material - Photographs - Format - Cabinet cards
https://www.kansasmemory.gov/item/690