Basic Information

On September 11th, 1853, populist Mary Elizabeth Lease was born in Ridgeway, Pennsylvania. Lease went on to become recognized as the first woman in American politics, contesting the societal belief that women are “deemed unimportant and unwanted” (Paup, 2012, p. 58) in the political world. She was a huge advocate of the suffrage movement, working to send a message about “political representation, citizenship, and patriotism” (Paup, 2012) to these diverse, underrepresented audiences and communities. Her role as a populist orator helped to push forward these ideological connections between the Populist and Progressive movements, addressing the fears instilled in people due to monopolism and capitalism (Orr, 2002, p. 10). Her detailed and prevalent work as a populist rewarded her the identity as ‘The People’s Joan of Arc’, characterizing her intimate dedication to the Peoples Party (Populists). 

Background Information

In September of 1853, Irish immigrants Joseph P. and Mary Elizabeth Murray Clyens gave life to Elizabeth Lease, in Ridgeway, Pennsylvania. In her younger years, Lease moved to Kansas at the age of 20, where she met her husband Charles L. Lease, a local pharmacist. The newlywed couple then moved to Denison, Texas after the Panic of 1874 after they had lost their Kingman Country farm. It was at this time when Lease began her journey of studying law in Denison, sparking her involvement in political and social movements. She held many occupations and trades in her younger years outside of suffrage work, including teaching, homemaking, and journalism.

In 1885, Lease attended her first public speaking tour in an effort to raise money for the Irish National Land League, an organization putting forth an effort to help poor tenant farmers. This exposure opened up numerous opportunities for her to become a major face fighting for women’s rights. It was only a few years later in 1888, when her involvement in civic and social activities blossomed, as she became an advocate for the Populist Party, yet another organization seeking representation and support of farmers and laborers. This work led her to many other involvements, including the Farmers Alliance and Knights of Labor. Her Irish background provided her with a distinctive position in political trajectories, as it uncommonly and uniquely blended with her “Jeffersonian agrarianism, advocacy of women’s rights, disenfranchising the centralized government, business, and banking” (Lovett, 2017) involvements. 

Contributions to the First Wave

Mary Elizabeth Lease was recognized as possibly the “most well-known orator on behalf of the People’s Party” (Lovett, 2017), earning her identity as the ‘People’s Joan of Arc’. Lease held many occupations and social positions regarding the issues and movements of the First Wave, such as being a prominent club member, temperance supporter, Knights of Labor and Union Labor Party member, women’s rights activist, birth control rights advocate, Progressive reformer, the list goes on (Orr, 2002, p. 1). Although, her most remarkable involvement is recognized as her contributions to the National Farmer’s Alliance. During her time in Kansas in 1885, Lease wrote a speech for St. Patrick’s Day titled “Ireland and Irishmen” which was well received by the public and set her social demands as a public speaker. This speech is what struck Lease to become a professional speaker, leading her to hundreds of speeches around the world. This positive feedback combined with her passion for being able to voice her ideas and thoughts led her to speak on the issues of women’s rights and the cause of labor temperance, sparking the criticism in the societal belief that women are represented by their husbands. 

In the summer of 1890, Lease gave a total of 160 speeches during the political campaign of U.S. Senator John J. Ingalls, as he strongly believed that “women don’t belong in politics” (Gundersen, 2012, p. 5). In these speeches, Lease justified her involvement in politics in the argument that “political decisions had effects on the daily lives of women and children” (Lovett, 2009). She articulated these justifications through the connection of the home to politics, in that the traditional constructs of home and family were consistently used by these reformers and politicians, such as Ingall, leading to an increase in government management of citizens’ private lives. 

A very prominent appearance of Lease was before the National Council of Women in Washington D.C., in 1891, speaking for the women in the Farmers Alliance movement, which grew her presence and audience demand tremendously. The women of this alliance spoke out on the issues of high shipping costs, tariffs, and mortgage rates among farmers. Lease was one who believed in creating chaos in order to implement change, which insisted farmers do so in her speech to the councilwomen.

Raise less corn and more hell

∼ Mary Elizabeth Lease, 1891 (Kansas Historical Society, 2003)

Due to the great attention she was receiving from these many speeches and her heightened levels of social demand, she took advantage of these opportunities to “preach the gospel of the Populist’s reform” (Gundersen, 2012, p. 6). This reform called for graduated income tax, direct election of Senators, shorter workweeks, immigrant restrictions, and public ownership of railroads and public transport. Lease played a huge role in changing the gender dynamics in the U.S., through her ideologies of an agrarian society. Through her ideologies, speeches, and newfound beliefs or truths, she in turn “defied women’s second-class citizenship” (Orr, 2002, p. 169), and successfully changed those preconceived notions of men and women’s societal and political roles. 

Analysis and Conclusion

Lease was one of the most prominent and influential public figures for women’s suffrage in the 1800s and arguably one of the firsts. She brought a great contribution to the fight for women’s suffrage, as she helped to set the tone, introduced profound thoughts and rebutting ideologies, as well as sparked the confidence in other women to take part in organizations and movements. One of Lease’s most important contributions to women’s suffrage was her numerous speeches, especially during the election period of Senator John J. Ingalls in which she publicly argued his governing beliefs in men being superior over women, and women’s allotted positions in politics. A barrier that Lease encountered was similar to any woman fighting for suffrage during this time, however, through her persistence and rebellion of politics, she was and still is, recognized as “one of the most accomplished and captivating figures” (Orr, 2002, p. iv).

References

Gundersen, R. C. (2012). Mary Elizabeth Lease: Voice of the Populists. Retrieved from https://emporia.edu

Lease, M. E. (Photographer unknown). (1933). Mary Elizabeth (Clyens) Lease, 1853-1933, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left. Library of Congress. Retrieved February 1, 2022 from Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2005688497/ 

Lovett, L. L. (2009). Conceiving the Future: Pronatalism, Reproduction, and the Family in the United States, 1890-1938 (Gender and American Culture). The University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved from https://book.google.com

Lovett, L. L. (2017). ‘The People’s Joan of Arc’: Mary Elizabeth Lease, Gendered Politics, and Populist Party Politics in the Gilded-Age America. Canadian Journal of History, 52(1). Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com 

Kansas Historical Society (2003). Mary Elizabeth Lease. Kansapedia. Retrieved from https://www.kshs.org 

Orr, B. S. (2002). Mary Elizabeth Lease: Nineteenth-century populist and twentieth-century progressive. George Washington University: ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Paup, E. A. (2012). A New Woman in Old Fashioned Times: Party women and the rhetorical foundations of political womanhood. Minnesota: ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.