1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. I almost said I'm 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 1: Holly Friday. I don't know what that's about. I literally 5 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: had to pull myself back. But today we are talking 6 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: about Mary Elizabeth Lease, and I will tell you upfront 7 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: she is a mixed bag. In initial research on her, 8 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:37,919 Speaker 1: what I kept finding was most biographical sketches describe her 9 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: in pretty positive terms, even though she was not universally beloved. 10 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 1: She was a progressive political activist. She fought big business, 11 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: she worked on behalf of the common man, particularly farmers, 12 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: and she believed really strongly in the importance of third 13 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: parties in the US political system. Oh that's true, and 14 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: it makes her sound pretty cool, but it leaves out 15 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: some really proba aboutic parts of her story ideology. Her 16 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,680 Speaker 1: story which also plays out during the Gilded Age, when, 17 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: much like today, the difference between rich and poor in 18 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: the US very stark, very unbalanced, with just a handful 19 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,479 Speaker 1: of people holding the vast majority of the nation's wealth. 20 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 1: But it also offers a glimpse into the repetitive nature 21 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: of politics and social structure in the US as a 22 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: lot of the issues she spoke about and advocated for 23 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: are things we were hearing about all the time in 24 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 1: the news today. There is also a moment in this 25 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: show where one of her detractors says something that sounds 26 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: like you heard it on a SoundBite from nineteen sixty nine. 27 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: It was took me so by surprise. So. Mary Elizabeth 28 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: Cliens was born September eleventh, eighteen fifty three, in Ridgeway, Pennsylvania. 29 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: Her father was Joseph P. Cleons and her mother was 30 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: Mary Elizabeth Murray Clients, and both of them were i 31 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: and had immigrated to the United States. Mary had two 32 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: older brothers who had been born in Ireland. They were 33 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: Patrick and Daniel. The family had left their home country 34 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: after Joseph had been involved in a conflict with British landowners. 35 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: He had lost his tenant property during the famine and 36 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: had also been instrumental in leading a revolt against the landowners, 37 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: and that had made him a wanted man. During the 38 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: US Civil War, which started when Mary was just eight, 39 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: her father, Joseph, and her two brothers served in the 40 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: Union Army Joseph was drafted, but her brothers volunteered. Both 41 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: of her brothers, one of whom was adopted, were killed 42 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: in action, and Joseph is said to have starved to 43 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: death while he was a prisoner of war. There is 44 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: we should note some conflicting information about all of this 45 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: because in some accounts, Joseph, Patrick and Daniel are said 46 00:02:55,919 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: to have received money to service stand ins for military survice. 47 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: We've talked about this practice on the show before, where 48 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: they would report in lieu of wealthy draftees who basically 49 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: paid them to say, go be me for this conflict. Mary, 50 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:13,920 Speaker 1: after all of this had happened, believed that the war 51 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: was entirely the fault of the Democratic Party and that 52 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: it was the direct cause of her sorrow, and she 53 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: grew up with a deep disdain for pretty much all Democrats. 54 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: The Democrat Party at this point in history was generally 55 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: a party of wealthy, white slave owners. That's where we 56 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: are in the arc of political parties in the US. 57 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: So Mary Elizabeth attended Saint Elizabeth's Academy in Allegheny, New York, 58 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: and graduated in eighteen sixty eight at the age of fifteen. 59 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: She taught in a school in Pennsylvania for two years 60 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: before moving to Kansas in search of better wages for teachers. 61 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: She had already showed an interest in the labor movement 62 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: at that point, even as a team fresh to the profession. 63 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: She had tried to get a teacher's union together at 64 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: her first job, primarily because of poor pay clients. Got 65 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: a teaching appointment in a Kansas Catholic school, which was 66 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: Saint Anne's academy, and that was in the town of 67 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:17,160 Speaker 1: Osage Mission in Kansas. Mary Elizabeth met a pharmacist clerk 68 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: named Charles L. Lease, and the two of them married 69 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: on January thirtieth, eighteen seventy three. According to Charles's account, 70 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: it had been Mary who pursued him. He had not 71 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: particularly been interested in courtship or marriage, and then she 72 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: kind of inserted herself into his life. Because Mary was 73 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,719 Speaker 1: politically active before she met Charles, they had what was 74 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,920 Speaker 1: probably sort of a unique marriage for the time, one 75 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: in which she and her husband were of differing political views, 76 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: although it seems that Charles was a lot less passionate 77 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:55,119 Speaker 1: about his Democrat affiliation than Mary was about her ideologies. 78 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: Mary left her teaching job when she married Charles and 79 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,280 Speaker 1: she became a homemaker. Although that role did not particularly 80 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: suit her, she started coming up with ways to stay 81 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: mentally stimulated, and one of them was that she started writing. 82 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: And among the works that she wrote during this time 83 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: was a play that was put on at one of 84 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 1: the local schools that imagined what the US might be 85 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: like if it had been run by women. Charles and 86 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: Mary Elizabeth moved to Kingman County, Kansas in early eighteen 87 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: seventy three. They got a plot of land through the 88 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: Homestead Act and they started a farm there. They had 89 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,359 Speaker 1: borrowed money to set up the farm with everything that 90 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,600 Speaker 1: it needed, but they found that things were really rough going. 91 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: After living a pretty comfortable life for their first several 92 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,799 Speaker 1: months of marriage, they found themselves living in a dugout 93 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: house before they could get a sod house made. They 94 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: also realized that farming is very difficult work. They were 95 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: not good at it. They did not produce anything to sell. 96 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: They defaulted on their loans and the farm was repossessed. 97 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: Just a year after they had ventured into farming, they 98 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: had lost everything and moved to Denison, Texas. Yeah, I 99 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: get the vibe, because farming will come up again that 100 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:14,040 Speaker 1: Mary had kind of a romantic idea of what it 101 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,479 Speaker 1: was to be a farmer. Even as she became very 102 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: well acquainted with a lot of farmers, she really thought 103 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: that was going to be a great life. Mary was 104 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 1: pregnant when they made this move to Denison, and she 105 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: gave birth to their first child, Charles Henry, in late 106 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy four. In Texas, Charles found work at a 107 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,600 Speaker 1: pharmacy once again. This time he was working for Atchison's 108 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: drug Store, and to help make ends meet, Mary Elizabeth 109 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: worked as a washerwoman, and during this time she also 110 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: started studying law. Now this was not a case where 111 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 1: she attended law school. Rather, she apprenticed with the law 112 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:53,840 Speaker 1: firm of Aldrich and Brown and she studied law there. 113 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: Apprentices who learned in this manner were allowed to sit 114 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: for the bar exam, and Mary is said to pinned 115 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,479 Speaker 1: her law notes over her washtub, so as she did 116 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: her customer's laundry, she could also study. Attison's drugstore provided 117 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: the leases with more than an income for Charles. It 118 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: was owned by doctor Alexander Atchison, and he and his wife, 119 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: Sarah became a significant influence on Mary Elizabeth. Sarah Atchison 120 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: was active in the temperance movement, and she recruited Mary 121 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: Elizabeth into that cause. Mary Elizabeth joined the Women's Christian 122 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: Temperance Union and started giving speeches to promote temperance. She 123 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: was really good at this. Many years later, The New 124 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: York Times would write of Mary quote, she had a 125 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: resounding voice and a knack for forceful phraseology that carried 126 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: conviction and enthusiasm. So that voice and her use of 127 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: it would really define the rest of her life. Charles, meanwhile, 128 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: was trying to improve their finances by flipping lots. He 129 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: recognized that Dennison was growing, and so he would purchase 130 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: empty lots when they came available, and then he would 131 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: sell those lots at a markup as the town expanded. 132 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: In eighteen eighty Mary and Charles also had a second child, Evelyn, 133 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: and then a third child in eighteen eighty three. That 134 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: was their daughter, Grace. After almost a decade in Denison, 135 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: Mary and Charles moved back to Kingman County, Kansas. They 136 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: didn't completely leave Denison behind, though at least not financially, 137 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: because Charles continued to be active in the real estate 138 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: market there for years. They had decided to try to 139 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,440 Speaker 1: farm again in Kansas. This time they went with the 140 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: route of renting a house with land instead of taking 141 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 1: on property. They didn't have a whole lot greater success 142 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: the second time than they had the first, though, although 143 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: they apparently did a little bit better in terms of 144 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: producing an actual corn crop, it still didn't make them 145 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,559 Speaker 1: very much money. After they moved back to Kingman County, 146 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: the Leases had a son named Ben Herr. Biographer Brookspear 147 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: or theat we arised that he was named after the 148 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: character in the book, which came out in eighteen eighty. 149 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: Mary and Charles had two other babies during their time 150 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:12,439 Speaker 1: in Dennison who did not survive their infancy. The family 151 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: moved from their failed second farm to Wichita, and over 152 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: time Mary used her growing circle in Wichita society to 153 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: talk to other women about things like temperance and suffrage, 154 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: and soon she was a leading voice in women's activism circles. 155 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:31,200 Speaker 1: Mary became involved with the Knights of Labor, which had 156 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,679 Speaker 1: been founded in eighteen sixty nine to advocate for reforms 157 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 1: in labor practices, including things like an eight hour workday, 158 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: ending child labor, and also ending the use of incarcerated 159 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,680 Speaker 1: people as laborers as well as other reforms. Unlike a 160 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: lot of other organizations, the Knights of Labor also advocated 161 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: for women's suffrage and labor equality, and through this group, 162 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: Mary was engaged as a speaker, and that was something 163 00:09:57,160 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: that brought her in contact with a lot of other 164 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: activists of note, including Susan B. Anthony. Mary often invoked 165 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: her own experiences when she talked about issues like class 166 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: inequality in the ways that banking and industrial companies actively 167 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:16,560 Speaker 1: harmed the nation's farmers with their policies. We'll talk about 168 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: another significant step and Mary's activism after we pause for 169 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: a sponsor break. In eighteen eighty eight, Mary's involvement in 170 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: activism kind of shifted into high gear when she attended 171 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: the Union Labor Party's state convention. She had been aligned 172 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,679 Speaker 1: with the Republican Party prior to that, but the party's 173 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: stance on tariffs as good for the economy and their 174 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,320 Speaker 1: lack of support for farmers had soured her opinion of 175 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: the organization. In contrast, the Union Labor Party wanted a 176 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: financial structure for the country that was beneficial to the 177 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: people actually doing the work, so it was very much 178 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,640 Speaker 1: much in line with her ideology. Lease actually ran for 179 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: office as a member of the Union Labor Party. At 180 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 1: the convention in eighteen eighty eight, she was chosen as 181 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:13,479 Speaker 1: the Union Labor candidate for superintendent of Sedgwick County Schools, 182 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: although neither she nor the other candidates that the Union 183 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: Labor Party put forth for various offices fared well at 184 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:24,440 Speaker 1: all in the election. After the election, Lee stayed active 185 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:27,719 Speaker 1: in the Union Labor Party and even edited its newspaper. 186 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:30,840 Speaker 1: Before the end of the decade, though Mary moved to 187 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 1: the Farmers Alliance, which had started in Texas almost two 188 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: decades earlier. She wasn't eligible for membership in the Farmer's 189 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:41,080 Speaker 1: Alliance because she was not considered to be part of 190 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: a farming family, but she was welcomed as a participant, 191 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 1: and her involvement really drove the membership numbers way up. 192 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: We've already said she was a compelling speaker, but she 193 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 1: also offered women in farm communities a glimpse at ways 194 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,720 Speaker 1: that they could be politically active, and a lot of 195 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: that growth came from women joining the movement. The Farmer's 196 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 1: Alliance wasn't a political party. It was a protest group 197 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: and an agrarian movement. As Mary Leesa's involvement in activism 198 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: with the Farmer's Alliance was heating up, she gained a 199 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: very powerful enemy in Kansas Republican Senator John James Ingalls. 200 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:24,800 Speaker 1: Ingles was anti suffrage, and he made statements about activists 201 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: that truly sound exactly like conservative rhetoric in the nineteen sixties. 202 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 1: This is what I mentioned at the top of the show. 203 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 1: He said of women's suffrage that it was quote that 204 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: obscene dogma whose advocates are long haired men and short 205 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: haired women, the unsext of both sexes, human capons and episscenes. 206 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: That sounds like he's like you hippies. Yeah, maybe without 207 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: the capons and epissenes part, it does sound like he's 208 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: talking about hippies. He and his wife made a lot 209 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: of public comments about Mary Lease being a ladylike and 210 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: insinuating that she was quite vulgar by the way. It 211 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 1: wasn't like she was out there swearing. She just was very, 212 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: very direct and very vocal, and that was not cool 213 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,079 Speaker 1: for women in their eyes. Mary as a consequence, made 214 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 1: it her mission to publicly criticize Ingles for his stance, 215 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,640 Speaker 1: and the entire Republican party along with him. The two 216 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:26,200 Speaker 1: of them traded barbs in the press, and it made 217 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: big news every time one of them said something about 218 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 1: the other. And as this was all playing out, although 219 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: she was really busy as an activist and she was 220 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,319 Speaker 1: still a full time mom, Mary was able to complete 221 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: her law studies and she passed the bar examine Kansas 222 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty nine, and at that point she and 223 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: another woman named Mary Merrill opened a law practice together. 224 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: During the eighteen ninety election cycle, Mary campaigned hard. She 225 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: made more than one hundred and sixty speeches. Ingles was 226 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: up for reelection, and she and the Farmer's Alliance were 227 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: focused on making sure he was defeated. In her speeches, 228 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 1: she talked about how he and other Republicans were ensuring 229 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: that wealth inequality was the standard, with a small group 230 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,680 Speaker 1: of men controlling most of the money in Kansas. Some 231 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,359 Speaker 1: of her rhetoric regarding Ingles would be perceived as dangerously 232 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: close to a threat of physical violence today, likening their 233 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: vote to pulling a trigger to take out the mark. 234 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: When Senator John Ingalls was ultimately defeated in the election, 235 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: which took a long time due to legal tie ups 236 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: over certification. Mary openly stated that she was the reason 237 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: why he had lost. This was probably true, at least 238 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:47,040 Speaker 1: to a degree. One of Lisa's most famous speeches during 239 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: this time is often referred to by the title wall 240 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 1: Street owns the Country, although you will sometimes also see 241 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: it referred to by other names. And in this speech 242 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: she denounced the entire setup of the USA economy. This 243 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 1: is a really good example of the kinds of things, 244 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: she said, so I want to include a lot of it. 245 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: That speech opens with quote, this is a nation of inconsistencies. 246 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: The Puritans, fleeing from oppression, became oppressers. We fought England 247 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: for our liberty and put chains on four million of blacks. 248 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 1: We wiped out slavery and our tariff laws, and national 249 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 1: banks began a system of white wage slavery worse than 250 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: the first. Wall Street owns the Country. It is no 251 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: longer a government of the people, by the people, and 252 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: for the people, but a government of wall Street, by 253 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: wall Street, and for wall Street. The great common people 254 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: of this country are slaves, and monopoly is the master. 255 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 1: The West and South are bound and prostrate before the 256 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:52,760 Speaker 1: manufacturing East. Money rules, and our vice president is a 257 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: London banker. Our laws are the output of a system 258 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 1: which clothes rascals and robes, and honesty in the political 259 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 1: parties lie to us, and the political speakers mislead us. 260 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: The speech continues by noting that farmers were told they 261 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: just needed to produce a good crop, but when they 262 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: all managed to do so, they were told they had 263 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: over produced and thus their various products like corn, beef, 264 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: and eggs would be devalued. She notes that they were 265 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: told that there was too much product, but according to 266 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 1: the statistics, there were ten thousand kids starving in the 267 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: US every year. She finished with a threat quote, we 268 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: want money, land and transportation. We want the abolition of 269 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: the national banks, and we want the power to make 270 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: loans direct from the government. We want the foreclosure system 271 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: wiped out. We will stand by our homes and stay 272 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 1: by our fireside, by force if necessary, and we will 273 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: not pay our debts to the loan shark companies until 274 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: the government pays its debt to us. The people are 275 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: at bay. Let the bloodhounds of money who dogged us 276 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: thus far beware. There is also another quote that's attributed 277 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,360 Speaker 1: to Mary during this phase of her activism, in which 278 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:12,400 Speaker 1: she was alleged to have told farmers in Kansas to quote, 279 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,960 Speaker 1: raise less corn and more hell. This is something that 280 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: still gets repeated today. But she did not say it, 281 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:22,239 Speaker 1: And when asked about the quote, Mary said that no, 282 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: she hadn't said it, but she did think it was 283 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 1: pretty good advice. Mary's rhetoric and her speeches roused a 284 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: lot of people, but by its very nature it also 285 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: turned off a lot of people, even in the groups 286 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:38,760 Speaker 1: she's most associated with. For example, the Daily Kansas People 287 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 1: and other papers ran an account of the Farmer's Alliance 288 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: picnic that was held in August of eighteen ninety that 289 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:50,640 Speaker 1: described an estimated ten thousand attendees, but also notes after 290 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: mentioning that M. W. Wilkins and Mary E. Lease were speakers, 291 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,720 Speaker 1: quote the speeches were of intolerable length and were not 292 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: very well received. Yeah. I ran across that after I 293 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 1: had seen several instances of people talking about the crowds 294 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 1: she drew and saying like there were instances where ten 295 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 1: thousand people at a time came to see her speak, 296 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 1: and it's like, well, they were there for a picnic, 297 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: and they also didn't all seem to really like it. 298 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: In eighteen ninety two, the Farmers Alliance, which had realized 299 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: that their political influence would always be limited if they 300 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: couldn't actually put candidates on ballots, formed the Populist Party officially, 301 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: and Mary was of course a major player in the 302 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: Populist Party, and it was within that group that she 303 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:40,920 Speaker 1: got the nickname the People's Joan of Arc. When James 304 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: Weaver ran for president as the Populist candidate in eighteen 305 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: ninety two, Mary traveled the campaign trail with him, and 306 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:51,440 Speaker 1: Weaver was amazed at the way that Lease was received 307 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:54,320 Speaker 1: by people on the campaign trail. He described her in 308 00:18:54,359 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: the ways you would describe like a rock star walking 309 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,880 Speaker 1: into an auditorium today. In eighteen ninety three, she briefly 310 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 1: ran for senator, but papers reported in January of that 311 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,879 Speaker 1: year that she had chosen to withdraw from the race. 312 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,479 Speaker 1: Some accounts noted that it was quote in the interest 313 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: of harmony. Her candidacy had caused so much debate even 314 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,679 Speaker 1: among the people who supported her. There were concerns that 315 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,439 Speaker 1: she would be polarizing in a way that would lose 316 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,919 Speaker 1: the Populist Party votes, or that even people who agreed 317 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,919 Speaker 1: with her politics wouldn't vote for her because she was 318 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:33,680 Speaker 1: a woman. She was also relentlessly attacked by her rivals 319 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: who suggested that no woman would have the constitution to 320 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:42,919 Speaker 1: handle public office. That same year, Mary also had a 321 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 1: very public conflict in Kansas after she became president of 322 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:50,320 Speaker 1: the Kansas Board of Charities, and that was an appointment 323 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: she received just after she withdrew from the Senate race. 324 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,639 Speaker 1: In this role, which oversaw a mix of asylums, homes 325 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:02,480 Speaker 1: for the poor, and special schools, she ran into problems 326 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 1: in working with Kansas Governor Lorenzo Llewelling, who had actually 327 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: been the one that appointed her to that job. The 328 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: two of them butt heads over a number of things, 329 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:17,400 Speaker 1: including connections to the Democratic Party. Llewellyn had run as 330 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,680 Speaker 1: a Populist Democrat under the Populist Democrat coalition, and Lese 331 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,720 Speaker 1: hated this. She did not believe in the two parties fusing, 332 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,959 Speaker 1: and she was completely comfortable being very vocal about it 333 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: and also saying that she simply did not want to 334 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: work with anyone who had been elected as a fusion candidate. 335 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,359 Speaker 1: She also got really mad when Llewelling appointed Democrats to 336 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:43,159 Speaker 1: the Board of Charities, not only because of their political affiliation, 337 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: but also because she thought that she was supposed to 338 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,440 Speaker 1: be the only one who could make decisions on who 339 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:52,720 Speaker 1: was going to be on the board. Llewelling grew so 340 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:57,639 Speaker 1: irritated and frustrated with Mary and her furious pronouncements about 341 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,640 Speaker 1: his politics that he tried to have her moved from 342 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,119 Speaker 1: her role with the Board of Charities. This proved to 343 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:08,240 Speaker 1: be more difficult than he had anticipated, though. Mary fought 344 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 1: him tooth and nail in his efforts to take her 345 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,600 Speaker 1: out of her position, and things got really ugly. Llew 346 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:19,000 Speaker 1: Welling's office even circulated rumors that she and presidential candidate 347 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: Weaver had an affair on the campaign trail, and Lese 348 00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:27,680 Speaker 1: accused Llewelling of things like having taken bribes from the railroads. 349 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,600 Speaker 1: The conflict ended up in front of the Kansas Supreme Court, 350 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:35,639 Speaker 1: and Mary emerged victorious. Yeah, there were a lot of 351 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: other allegations in the midst of all of that mud slinging, 352 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,440 Speaker 1: but those were like the two big ones. Although Mary 353 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,920 Speaker 1: had been legally vindicated at this point, her political standing 354 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:49,879 Speaker 1: really faltered in the wake of the Court's decision. People 355 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 1: really started to consider that she was so staunchly dug 356 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: in on her views that she could never compromise or 357 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,239 Speaker 1: really work with others, and because she was seen as 358 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: one of the primary voices of the Populist Party, that 359 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 1: meant that shifting opinions about her also turnished the party's reputation. 360 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,320 Speaker 1: This in turn led to poor support for the party 361 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 1: in the eighteen ninety four election, and the party was 362 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:17,239 Speaker 1: unable to secure even a single office that it had 363 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: run a candidate for. Although the political party tried to 364 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:24,639 Speaker 1: recapture its momentum, it kind of sputtered out before the 365 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 1: century ended. Coming up, we're going to talk about Mary's book, 366 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: which was kind of a rambling pastiche of socio political 367 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,920 Speaker 1: ideas and spoiler alert, it's got some problems. We'll get 368 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 1: into it after we hear from the sponsors that keep 369 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: the show going. In eighteen ninety five, Mary published a 370 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: book titled The Problem of Civilization Solved Just Pretty Bold. 371 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:03,400 Speaker 1: In it, she examines the rising numbers of the lowest 372 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: income classes in the United States and she explains what 373 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,640 Speaker 1: she feels are the causes of this problem. She does 374 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:13,920 Speaker 1: so this way, quote, the tide of poperism is steadily rising, 375 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,919 Speaker 1: and we are rapidly approaching the condition of Europe in 376 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:21,040 Speaker 1: the last century. Class legislation has done much to swell 377 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 1: the list of America's poppers, but Europe's system of dumping 378 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:29,480 Speaker 1: its poperized class upon our shores has done more. An 379 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:33,679 Speaker 1: ever increasing swarm of dependence are with us. The cause 380 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:38,119 Speaker 1: can be traced to class legislation and militarism, the one 381 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: the curse of our free institutions, and the other the 382 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 1: bane of European civilization. The remedy lies not in doling 383 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 1: out alms to humanity until the recipients of charity become 384 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:53,040 Speaker 1: chronic beggars, but in first removing the cause of extreme 385 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: poverty by giving every toiler access to the soil, making 386 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:00,040 Speaker 1: the ballot the key to unlock the garner where his 387 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: birthright lies. The solution she puts forward in this writing 388 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: to pull people out of poverty is offering them land 389 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 1: to work on with the potential to earn its ownership. Quote. 390 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,879 Speaker 1: A cabbage garden or potato patch with the incentive of 391 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: proprietorship and compensation, will keep drunkards from tippling, dead beats 392 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 1: from mendacity, criminals from crime, and prove not only the 393 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,560 Speaker 1: source of health, happiness, and honesty as well as a 394 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: source of revenue to the commonwealth, but a panacea also 395 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: for tough sinners, where soap and water, sunshine and air, 396 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,640 Speaker 1: work and play will take the place of the seven sacraments. 397 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:41,919 Speaker 1: In the forty days, fast on fish and eggs, it 398 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:45,920 Speaker 1: is time for earnest men and women to act. Never 399 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 1: were needs so pressing and deeds so necessary as today. 400 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:54,080 Speaker 1: Gigantic want and gigantic wealth step side by side. But 401 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: the cry of the untaught, uncomforted millions, sending forth like 402 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,679 Speaker 1: tortured beasts, and inner articulate cry from the depths of 403 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: their destitution and debasement, is unheeded, if not unheard. So 404 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 1: if all of this rhetoric sounds a little bit sketchy 405 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: to you, rest assured it gets a whole lot worse. 406 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 1: And it really gets outright racist and white supremacist. And 407 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:22,120 Speaker 1: this is a racism that is completely slathered in white saviorism. 408 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 1: She notes that one of the things that is damaging 409 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,960 Speaker 1: people is over population. So the population, by which she 410 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: really means the white population, should spread out by taking 411 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,399 Speaker 1: land from other people. Note as we go into this 412 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,959 Speaker 1: that this quote has some very outdated language. Quote the 413 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: homeless condition of the highly enlightened Caucasian and the debase 414 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:48,159 Speaker 1: degradation of the Negro and Oriental calls in thundertones to 415 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 1: Heaven for a great readjustment of the social condition of mankind. 416 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:57,040 Speaker 1: Europe and America are on the eye of a dire revolution, 417 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 1: before which all modern civilization may go down to ruin 418 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:05,439 Speaker 1: in blood and fire, or perish more slowly beneath the 419 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:10,119 Speaker 1: iron hoofs of Russian despotism. Between the dreaded modern goth 420 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 1: of Russian supremacy or Universal Empire, and the vandalism of 421 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 1: the British financial system which threatens to enslave the industrial world, 422 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: our civilization cannot long survive. The only hope of averting 423 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 1: this universal reign of terror lies in inaugurating the most 424 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 1: stupendous migration of races the world has ever known, and 425 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: thereby relieve the congested centers of the world's population of 426 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:41,040 Speaker 1: half their inhabitants and provide free homes for half of mankind. 427 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: This can be done by colonizing the tropics in America 428 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: and Africa with fifty million white families as planters on 429 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:54,399 Speaker 1: estates of two hundred acres each with three families of 430 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: Negroes or Orientals as tillers of the soil. Through all 431 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:02,719 Speaker 1: the vicissitudes of time, the Caucasian has arisen to the 432 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 1: moral and intellectual supremacy of the world. Until now this 433 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,159 Speaker 1: favored race is fitted with the stewardship of the earth 434 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 1: and emancipation from manual labor. The era has arrived when 435 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: the Caucasian must either sync to barbarism or become the 436 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 1: planter by occupancy of the tropics and the professional man 437 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: and business manager for the inferior races, the Oriental and 438 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: Negro are in a pitiable condition of ignorance, destitution, and 439 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 1: misery from a lack of proper encouragement and a just 440 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:39,719 Speaker 1: and intelligent supervision of their efforts. Cannot the resources and 441 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:45,520 Speaker 1: genius of Christendom rescue civilizations from its perils by tropical colonization. 442 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,400 Speaker 1: She says a lot more. Of course, She mentions, for example, 443 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,680 Speaker 1: how dangerous it would be if Russia were to diminish 444 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:57,160 Speaker 1: Britain's power in India, even though she doesn't love Britain, 445 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:02,239 Speaker 1: because that would undermine the art of Western supremacy. In 446 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety six, Lese moved to New York City, where 447 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:07,439 Speaker 1: she took on a number of roles that gave her 448 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: an expanded platform. She started writing for the New York 449 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,879 Speaker 1: World and became an editor for the National Encyclopedia of 450 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:18,360 Speaker 1: American Biography. Mary's advocacy had made her famous, and her 451 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,000 Speaker 1: arrival in the city was reported in the New York 452 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:24,560 Speaker 1: Times in an article that opened with quote, we noticed 453 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: that missus Mary Elizabeth Lease has arrived in this city, 454 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 1: and that she is to address public audiences on behalf 455 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: of mister Brian and the fifty three cent silver standard. 456 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:40,040 Speaker 1: That Brian was William Jennings Brian, and while Mary certainly 457 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,480 Speaker 1: didn't want to join the Democratic Party, she did support 458 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:47,960 Speaker 1: Brian in regards to his stance on establishing a silver standard, 459 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,360 Speaker 1: as famously stated in his Cross of Gold speech at 460 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:55,760 Speaker 1: the Democratic Convention in eighteen ninety six. In it, Brian 461 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 1: concluded his argument for bimetallism with quote, having behind us 462 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported 463 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, 464 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 1: we will answer their demand for a gold standard by 465 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: saying to them, you shall not press down upon the 466 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: brow of labor, this crown of thorns. You shall not 467 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:22,040 Speaker 1: crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. So that article 468 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: in the New York Times that mentioned that they had 469 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,640 Speaker 1: noticed she had arrived in New York was not complimentary 470 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: of Mary. It featured a quote that she gave to 471 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,520 Speaker 1: the press, which was quote, we out West think it's 472 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:36,840 Speaker 1: time for a financial system of our own without the 473 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:41,000 Speaker 1: interference of European money lenders. Some people in the West 474 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,600 Speaker 1: think the East is acting very selfishly. It is the 475 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,680 Speaker 1: debtor party that is going to elect Brian and Sewell. 476 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: But the paper had dug up information on that mortgage 477 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: that Mary and Charles had defaulted on in Kansas, having 478 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 1: spoken with someone at the Jervis Conklin Mortgage trust company, 479 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:01,640 Speaker 1: and the Times We're referred to this mortgage in question 480 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:05,720 Speaker 1: as quote, a matter of legitimate public interest, and it 481 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:10,000 Speaker 1: insinuates that Mary and other Populists were basically trying to 482 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:13,080 Speaker 1: cheat the system by never paying back money they borrowed 483 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:15,840 Speaker 1: and then claiming that this was because the odds had 484 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: been stacked against them. This is an example of how 485 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,560 Speaker 1: the overall conflict regarding the Populist Party was playing out 486 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,880 Speaker 1: on the public stage. Mary and other members of the 487 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:30,520 Speaker 1: party were lobbying for legislation against predatory lending practices, while 488 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:34,120 Speaker 1: their opponents responded that farmers had basically just been bad 489 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: at business. When Mary moved to New York with the 490 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: children in eighteen ninety six, she had done so without Charles, 491 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,160 Speaker 1: and the couple started living separately. At that point. The 492 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:48,200 Speaker 1: press had hinted for a long time that their marriage 493 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,880 Speaker 1: must be trouble. There were insinuations the woman like Mary 494 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 1: couldn't be a good wife, along with other barbs at 495 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 1: both her and Charles. There had also been a distance 496 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:00,920 Speaker 1: growing between them, some of which was just a matter 497 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,640 Speaker 1: of logistics. Mary was in demand as an orator and 498 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 1: so she wasn't home a lot of the time, and 499 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 1: it does seem that her activism made Charles uncomfortable over time, 500 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: especially as her fame grew and she was often embroiled 501 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: in very public feuds with prominent people. The two of 502 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:23,240 Speaker 1: them seemed to have maintained a pretty cordial relationship, although 503 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:28,000 Speaker 1: they did divorce in nineteen oh two. In nineteen twelve, 504 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:30,719 Speaker 1: Mary joined the Bull Moose Party, and she spoke at 505 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:35,080 Speaker 1: rallies supporting Teddy Roosevelt's campaign that year. By this time, 506 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: she had nothing positive to say about the Democratic or 507 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:42,400 Speaker 1: Republican parties. She called the Democrats a political putrescence, and 508 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: she referred to the Republican Party as quote the slave 509 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 1: of the money power. But she felt like Roosevelt aligned 510 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,600 Speaker 1: with what she had advocated for as a populist, and 511 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:56,520 Speaker 1: she even stated to the press that quote Rooseveltism spells populism. 512 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: But she didn't stick with Roosevelt, and by nineteen fourteen 513 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,880 Speaker 1: she was critical of the party, claiming that it had 514 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:07,520 Speaker 1: stolen its entire platform from the populists, and she claimed 515 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: that she had not been paid her speaker's fees by 516 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:15,360 Speaker 1: Roosevelt's campaign. So she made a switch to supporting Woodrow Wilson, 517 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:18,760 Speaker 1: but that didn't last, largely because he was really not 518 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:23,360 Speaker 1: a supporter of women's suffrage. As the nineteen teens wound down, 519 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: so did Mary. She retired from political life by the 520 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,080 Speaker 1: end of the decade, although she was still involved in 521 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:34,280 Speaker 1: various reform movements, especially in support of women's interests. She 522 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,200 Speaker 1: lived in Brooklyn until nineteen thirty, when she moved to 523 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:41,480 Speaker 1: Long Eddy, New York, on the Delaware River. Mary Elizabeth 524 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:45,360 Speaker 1: Lease died on October twenty ninth, nineteen thirty three, in Callicoon, 525 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:49,760 Speaker 1: New York from complications of a leg infection. She was 526 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 1: eighty years old at the time, and as her obituary 527 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:56,000 Speaker 1: in The New York Times noted, quote, the populists were 528 00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,920 Speaker 1: fighting for direct election of senators, postal savings bank, government 529 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 1: control of railways, federal supervision of corporations, the initiative and referendum, 530 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:13,000 Speaker 1: the income tax, woman suffrage, prohibition, and free silver. She 531 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,160 Speaker 1: lived to see every one of those planks except the last, 532 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:22,360 Speaker 1: put into effect, to varying degrees of success. Right. That 533 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 1: is what is kind of a very abbreviated version of 534 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 1: Mary Elizabeth Lease, because she was so publicly active that 535 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:33,440 Speaker 1: there is a lot of documentation of not only just 536 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:35,959 Speaker 1: what she said, but how people perceived her, which was 537 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,920 Speaker 1: not always great. We can talk about some of that 538 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 1: on behind the scenes, as well as that really problematic 539 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: yearn for colonization. But before that we'll have adorable kiddie talk. 540 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 1: This is from our listener Kelsey and it's a short email, 541 00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:59,200 Speaker 1: but it is adorable. Kelsey Rights just dropping a line 542 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:01,960 Speaker 1: to issue a Mary Festive season and grace your inbox 543 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,800 Speaker 1: with an image of my cat assistant Jack. He was 544 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,040 Speaker 1: desperate to help with baking, but had to settle for 545 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:10,759 Speaker 1: early morning coloring and podcast listening with gratitude for all 546 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,200 Speaker 1: you do to educate and entertain us huddled masses and 547 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,239 Speaker 1: bleak midwinter and all through the year. Jack is an 548 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 1: adorable orange creamsicle baby. Oh his little feats. He's so cute. 549 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,640 Speaker 1: He's so cute. And I also want to give a 550 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:29,600 Speaker 1: shout out to Catherine who shared her adorable orange tabby 551 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:35,239 Speaker 1: on Twitter. And it's pretty insistent that he is not 552 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:39,719 Speaker 1: one of the smart ones. But he's adorable and he 553 00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:42,200 Speaker 1: looks sweet as pie. So thank you, thank you, thank you. 554 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:44,319 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, you could 555 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:48,239 Speaker 1: do so at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You 556 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,040 Speaker 1: can also subscribe to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app 557 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:55,560 Speaker 1: or anywhere it is that you listen to your favorite shows. 558 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:02,520 Speaker 1: Stuff You mus and History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 559 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:07,480 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 560 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:11,480 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.