Medium: Text
Date: May 28, 1892
This political cartoon from the Topeka Populist newspaper, depicts the People’s (Populist) Party as St. George, the patron saint of England, who is slaying the dragon that represents the corruption…
Medium: Text
Date: March 24, 1875
In this letter to his cousin, A. W. Johnson relates news from his homestead near Osage Mission, Neosho County. Johnson describes the grasshopper plague in vivid terms, and also mentions…
Medium: Text
Date: Between May 6, 1875 and June 25, 1875
John William Gardiner was born in or near Platte City, Missouri, in 1851. In March 1855, Gardiner and his family moved to the future site of Winchester, Jefferson County, in…
Medium: Text
Date: Between 1877 and 1879
This journal was written by Mary Madgalene (Bower) Bellport, who was born in 1849 in Germany. After her family moved to Ohio, Mary met and married Augustine Bellport in 1877,…
Medium: Text
Date: Between January 3, 1875 and January 12, 1875
These entries from the journal of Susan Bixby Dimond describe her experiences as a settler in Osborne County, focusing primarily on her position as a schoolteacher and the harsh winter…
Medium: Text
Date: May 21, 1883
In this letter G. R. Anderson, owner of a general merchandise, coal, and hay store in Caldwell, Kansas, complains to the Board of Railroad Commissioners that the rate of transferring…
Medium: Text
Date: May 31, 1883
H. M. Hoxie, third vice-president of the Missouri Pacific Railway, wrote this letter to E. J. Twiner, secretary of the Kansas Board of Railroad Commission, in response to concerns about…
Medium: Text
Date: February 8, 1881
This brief article from the Topeka Commonwealth outlines the basics of how to assemble a local branch of the Farmer’s Alliance and the objectives of this reform organization. These objectives…
Medium: Text
Date: January 26, 1881
This article relates the news from a Farmer’s Alliance convention held earlier in January. The participants in this convention had written a petition that was presented to the Kansas House…
Medium: Text
Date: January 20, 1893
During the “Populist War” of 1893, Governor Lorenzo Lewelling released this statement regarded the rightful members of the legislature who where, in his opinion, the Populists (known as the Dunsmore…
Medium: Text
Date: May 29, 1901
This article discusses Henry W. Young’s stance on the fusion of the Democratic and Populist (People’s) Parties. Young, a former senator and editor of the Kansas Populist, had concluded that…
Medium: Text
Date: Between 1870 and 1880
James B. Abbott, a follower of phrenology, had his phrenological character charted by Frederick Bly. Phrenology is a theory which claims to be able to determine character, personality traits and…
Medium: Text
Date: January 11, 1893
On this postcard Republican representative Jeremiah Remington declared that his party was “holding the house, [and] have slept in chairs all night.” On January 10th, both Republicans and Populists stayed…
Medium: Text
Date: February 15, 1893
Kansas governor Lorenzo Lewelling issued this executive order in response to the standoff that would become known as the Legislative War of 1893. During this conflict, the Republican (Douglass) House…
Medium: Text
Date: February 16, 1893
Kansas governor Lorenzo Lewelling issued this order to Colonel Hughes, a militia commander, ordering him to clear the Topeka statehouse of all Republican congressmen and to forcibly remove anyone who…
Medium: Text
Date: February 17, 1893
This memorandum details the agreement between Populist governor Lorenzo Lewelling and the Republican (Douglass) House that ended the standoff known as the Legislative (or Populist) War of 1893. During this…
Medium: Text
Date: 1861
A bar graph comparing free and slave states between 1850 and 1860. Categories compared include schools, libraries, books, newspapers, periodicals, literacy, land area, population, militia, wealth, exports, imports, canals, railroads,…
Medium: Text
Date: 1979
This oral history interview with Sherman Brollier, a lawyer in Hugoton, Stevens County, describes his experiences during the dust storms of the “dirty thirties.” He focuses particularly on the ways…
Medium: Text
Date: Between 1890 and 1899
In this political cartoon from the satirical magazine Judge, Populist senators William Peffer and “Sockless” Jerry Simpson push a boulder (symbolizing the Farmer’s Alliance) under the wheel of a wagon…
Medium: Text
Date: June 13, 1891
This cartoon, from the cover of the satirical magazine Judge, illustrates the “birth” of the Populist Party. Hovering over the chick (who has a banner on his straw hat labeled…
Medium: Text
Date: February 1893
This brief statement by the Kansas Republican House of Representatives, led by George Douglass, was written during the Populist War of 1893 in order to affirm that the Republican Party…
Medium: Text
Date: August 11, 1892
In this brief but informative letter A. J. Arnold, a Topeka, Kansas, druggist, informs Joseph Hebbard, treasurer of the Farmer’s Alliance, of his decision to switch his allegiance from the…
Medium: Text
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…
Medium: Text
Date: July 15, 1955
In this reminiscence, Floyd R. Bull, a member of the El Dorado company of the Kansas National Guard, recalls his involvment in the Legislative (or Populist) War of 1893. During…
Medium: Text
Date: June 6, 1891
This political cartoon drawn by Bernard Gilliam was copied from the satirical magazine Judge presents the Republican perception of the People’s (Populist) Party. The artist depicts the People’s Party as…
