The Life of Mary E. Lease, People's Advocate

FAIN: FB-52636-06

Rebecca Edwards
Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0001)

This biography of Mary Lease (1850-1933), orator for the People’s Party in the 1890s, will be the first in-depth treatment of her life. An energetic participant in many American political movements, including those for temperance, labor rights, women’s suffrage, and international peace, Lease was hailed as one of the era's finest orators. The biography will trace connections and conflicts among various movements in which she participated. It will use Lease's speeches to explore the political issues that arose during her lifetime, as the United States became a modern industrial power, and also the ways in which Lease and her contemporaries defined and practiced democracy.

Associated Products

"Mary Lease and the Populists: A Reconsideration," Kansas History 35 (2012): 26-41 (Article)
Title: "Mary Lease and the Populists: A Reconsideration," Kansas History 35 (2012): 26-41
Author: Rebecca Edwards
Abstract: Historical studies of Mary Elizabeth Lease have failed to recognize the complexity of her religious, ethnic, and political background. This article reports new findings on her family, including the tragic death of her beloved youngest brother in a railroad accident. It traces the roots of Lease's activism and documents her multiple, shifting political goals between the early 1880s and the early 1900s. This results in a revised view of Lease's engagement with the Kansas and national People's Party.
Year: 2012
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Kansas History
Publisher: Kansas State Historical Society

"Mary Elizabeth Lease: Advocate for Political Reform." (Article)
Title: "Mary Elizabeth Lease: Advocate for Political Reform."
Author: Rebecca Edwards
Abstract: A biographical account of the life and political activism of Mary E. Lease, with particular attention to her experiences after moving to Kansas and her engagement there in movements for temperance, women's rights, Irish nationalism, the Knights of Labor, the Union Labor Party, and the People's Party.
Year: 2006
Primary URL: http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/deajoh.html
Primary URL Description: Kansas State University Press
Format: Other
Periodical Title: Published as part of a book collection.
Publisher: Kansas State University Press

“Marsh Murdock and the Wily Women of Wichita: Domesticity Contested in the Gilded Age.” (Article)
Title: “Marsh Murdock and the Wily Women of Wichita: Domesticity Contested in the Gilded Age.”
Author: Rebecca Edwards
Abstract: An exploration of the class and gender tensions around women's entry into reform work and political life in Wichita, Kansas. Particular attention is given to a colorful clash between the booster Republican editor of the Wichita Eagle, Marsh Murdock, and local women who joined the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and advocated for women's voting rights.
Year: 2002
Primary URL: http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-history-spring-2002/12413
Primary URL Description: Kansas History magazine online
Access Model: open access
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Kansas History
Publisher: Kansas State Historical Society

"Women's and Gender History" (Book Section)
Title: "Women's and Gender History"
Author: Rebecca Edwards
Editor: Lisa McGirr
Editor: Eric Foner
Abstract: This historiographical essay reviews recent work on women's and gender history and argues for a broader view of the movement for women's emancipation, extending beyond suffrage and voting rights. It challenges limitations in the "first wave/second wave" model that has been central to the story of women's history in the United States. (This article was deeply influenced by the research on Mary Lease and women's political activism, made possible by the NEH grant.)
Year: 2011
Primary URL: http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/2085_reg.html
Primary URL Description: Temple University Press
Access Model: book purchase
Publisher: Temple University Press in cooperation with American Historical Association
Book Title: American History Now
ISBN: 978-1-43990-24

"'To Unfold Such Powers': Nineteenth-Century American Women's Rights, Women's Education, and the Founding of Vassar College" (Article)
Title: "'To Unfold Such Powers': Nineteenth-Century American Women's Rights, Women's Education, and the Founding of Vassar College"
Author: Rebecca Edwards
Abstract: This article argues for an expanded view of women's emancipation in the 19th century US, with particular attention to education. (This article was deeply influenced by the research on Mary Lease and women's political activism, made possible by the NEH grant.)
Year: 2011
Primary URL: specialcollections.vassar.edu/exhibit-highlights/sesquicentennial/1900s_american_ womens_rights.html
Primary URL Description: Vassar College website accompanying the Sesquicentennial exhibition for which the article was written.
Access Model: open access
Format: Other
Periodical Title: Publication to accompany 150th anniversary exhibit at Vassar College, also posted online
Publisher: Vassar College Library

---