Passage IV

Mary Lease—Populist Activist

The daughter of a Pennsylvania farmer, Mary Elizabeth Lease possessed a natural sympathy for farmers, which made her a powerful champion in their fight for political reform in the late 1800s. After struggling financially in the Depression of 1873, she and her husband, moved to a farm in Kansas attempting to regain financial security. There, they experienced firsthand the difficulties that plagued farmers at that time, such as high mortgage rates and the railroads’ inflated fees to ship agricultural goods. (48)

These conditions prompted Lease to become politically involved. By 1888, Lease begun delivering speeches for the emerging Populist Party, a political group that sought to represent the interests of farmers and workers. Party leaders, mindful of Lease’s persuasive speaking ability, officially invited Lease to “stump” for them in the 1890 congressional election campaigns. Lease accepted the invitation and, during that year, delivered over 160 speeches for the party.

A shrewd speaker, Lease presented complex issues, such as interest rates, in a confident, straightforward, manner that her audiences understand easier. She denounced big business and bank owners who, she believed, created disadvantages for farmers and workers by monopolizing wealth. Lease used genuinely accurate language to extol the Populist Party’s call for election reforms, minimum wage laws, and a redistribution of wealth. Lease also ridiculed her opposition and presented the Populist Party as both the logical and morally correct choice. Thus it was that critics and supporters alike admired her ability to energize audiences. One critic even noted, “She could recite the multiplication table and set a crowd hooting and harrahing at her will.”

Such positive responses to Lease’s compelling speeches gave the Populist Party the momentum it needed. In the fall of 1890, the Populists elected five representatives to Congress. In the 1880s, Lease was admitted to the bar and later practiced law in New York City.