South Dakota

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Argersinger, Peter H. "Regulating Democracy: Election Laws and Dakota Politics, 1889-1902." Midwestern Review. 5 (1983): 1-19. Older and more democratic system gave way to new, making it more difficult to organize a new party, to secure representation, to vote independently or express political dissatisfaction other than dropping out.

Brooks, Arthur F. "The Administration of Andrew E. Lee, Governor of South Dakota, 1897-1901." Master's thesis, University of South Dakota, 1939. 71 pp. 

Cox, Elizabeth M. "Women Will Have a Hand in Such Matters From Now On": Idaho's First Women Lawmakers." Idaho Yesterdays 1994 38(3): 2-9.  Two years after Idaho enfranchised women in 1896, three women were elected to the Idaho legislature: Populist Mary A. Wright, Democrat Harriet F. Noble, and Republican Clara L. Campbell.  Each proved adept and skillful as legislators.  None ran for a second term.   America: History and Life, 33:6444

Dibbern, John David. "Grass Roots Populism: Politics and Social Structure in a Frontier Community." Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1980.  DAI, 41, no. 05A, (1980): 2257.  Populism appealed to men with insecurely held property.  Marshall County Alliancemen were propertied commercial farmers, especially debtors.  They had most recently obtained landownership, probably as homesteaders, and were thus upwardly-mobile and propertied.  Yet because their property was heavily mortgaged, it was also vulnerable to loss during these years of declining prices, crop failures, and mortgage foreclosures.  The author found no evidence of nativism or lower-class revolt. 

_____. "Who were the Populists?: A study of Grass-Roots Alliancemen in Dakota." Agricultural History 1982 56(4): 677-691. Examines membership records from the Marshall County, South Dakota Farmers' Alliance along with census and tax records.  Alliance members were more likely to be immigrants than non-Alliance farmers.  They also tended to be upwardly-mobile indebted property owners rather than tenants.  Their relatively high debt made them especially vulnerable to the boom and bust cycles of frontier agriculture.  America: History and Life, 20A:8340

Frank, Kent. "An Analysis of the Vote for the Populist Party in South Dakota in 1892." M.A. thesis, Southern Illinois U, 1965. 91 pp. 

Grant, H. Roger. "Origins of a Progressive Reform: The Initiative and Referendum Movements in South Dakota." South Dakota History 1973 3(4):390-407.  Direct Democracy was a significant part of Populist's efforts to put South Dakotan's destinies in their own hands.   America: History and Life, 11A:3263

Guth, Delloyd J. "Omer Madison Kem: The People's Congressman" M.A. thesis, Creighton
            University, 1962.

Heiman, Hazel Lucile. "A Historical Study of the Persuasion of the Populist Impulse in South Dakota." Ph.D. dissertation (Speech), U of Minnesota, 1969.  Dissertation Abstracts, 31:03A:1408.  

Hendrickson, Kenneth E., Jr. "The Populist Movement in South Dakota." M.A. thesis, U of South Dakota, 1956.   

_____. "Some Political Aspects of the Populist Movement in South Dakota." North Dakota History 1967 34(1): 77-92.  Alliance farmers protested railroad practices and got a limited railroad commission established in the 1880s.  Upon statehood, the Alliance formed Independent Party, allied with the Democrats, and elected James Henderson Kyle to the U.S. Senate.  Independents joined the Populist Party in 1892.  They elected fusionist Andrew E. Lee governor in 1896, but never gained control of the State legislature.  Their greatest success came through coalition with the Silver Republicans and Democrats. 

_____. "The Public Career of Richard F. Pettigrew of South Dakota: 1848‑1926." South Dakota Historical Collections. 34:143-311. 1968.  U.S. Senator 1889-1901, includes Populist and Farmer-Labor activity.  

Lamar, Howard R. "Perspectives on Statehood: South Dakota's First Quarter Century, 1889-1914." South Dakota History 1989 19(1): 2-25.  A little on Populism.   America: History and Life, 28:8034

Lindell, Terrence J. "Populists in Power: The Problems of the Andrew E. Lee Administration in South Dakota." South Dakota History Winter 1992 (22): 345-365.  Lee was the Populist governor of South Dakota between 1897 and 1901.  His reform efforts were thwarted by fusionist's failure to control all branches of government, disagreements among coalition partners, and Lee's failure to control his own appointees.   Few enduring reforms were achieved.  America: History and Life, 34:7866

Pratt, William C. "South Dakota Populism and Its Historians." South Dakota History 22 (Winter, 1992): 309-329.  Briefly discusses the Populist movement in South Dakota, 1890-1900, as part of a special issue of South Dakota History on this topic, and surveys in detail its historiography. Additional research needs to be done on South Dakota Populism, both on the local and state levels, which would lead to a better understanding of Populism in the state and region.

Remele, Larry. "'God Helps Those Who Help Themselves': The Farmers' Alliance and Dakota Statehood." Montana 1987 37(4): 22-33. The Dakota Farmers Alliance promoted insurgent political traditions and progressive ideas.  Alliancemen elected farmer supporters to the 1889 territorial legislature and constitutional convention.  The Alliance influenced the South Dakota Convention to write a progressive constitution, but was less successful in North Dakota.  America: History and Life, 26:3246

Tiffany, Burton Ellsworth. "The Initiative and Referendum in South Dakota." South Dakota Historical Collections. 13:284-310.  

Tryon, Warren S. "Agriculture and Politics in South Dakota--1889 to 1900." South Dakota Historical Collections. 13:284-310. 

Tweton, D. Jerome. "Considering Why Populism Succeeded in South Dakota and Failed in North Dakota." South Dakota History  22 (Winter, 1992): 330-344.  Leadership played a key role in the successful experience of Populism in South Dakota and its failure in North Dakota.  South Dakota Populists maintained their Populist principles, rejecting fusion, unlike their North Dakota counterparts. America: History and Life, 34:7870

Webb, Daryl. "'Just Principles Never Die': Brown County Populists, 1890-1900." South Dakota History  22 (Winter, 1992): 366-399.  Divergent philosophies of the party's moderate and socialist members led to factionalism that eventually caused the demise of the movement, despite some county and statewide political victories.  Several of their reform ideas were later adopted by the mainstream parties.  America: History and Life,

 Weed, Brian Jason. "Populist Thought in North and South Dakota, 1890-1900." M.A. thesis, U of North Dakota, 1970.