Populist Cartoons
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The Populist movement of the 1890s was a major attempt to reform the
American social, economic, and political structure through third-party politics.
Most of the third party's support came from the farmers and laborers of
the South and West, although the People's Party made some inroads into the
Northeast and Midwest in the mid-1890s. Unlike
present-day third-party efforts led by notable personalities, Populist attracted
few of the nation's elite to their cause. The
party, however, did have a strong grass-roots organization, and usually ran a
full slates of candidates for office during the party's heyday.
Most nineteenth-century newspapers were political in orientation and highly partisan.
During the 1890s, it took only $150 (about $3,730 in today's
money) to establish a small newspaper. Texas
had 75 papers claiming Populist (or Farmers Alliance) affiliation in the 1890s .
Kansas had more than 100. Because Populism was a poor people's movement,
Populist-oriented newspapers became a major means of organizing and propagandizing
potential supporters. Reform
editors formed a link between party leadership and followers, frequently
becoming part of the party's local leadership.
Since party
propaganda was a major function of their paper, editors accepted both cash and
produce in payment, and rarely cut off a subscriber for nonpayment.
Because a picture can be worth a thousand words,
Populist newspapers frequently included cartoons.
Most Populist cartoonists worked free lance. The major exceptions,
were Wilbur Steele of the Rocky
Mountain News, a Populist daily, Andrew V. Ullmark, who worked for the
Populist-oriented National Reform Press's boiler-plate syndication service, and
Roger Cunningham, who worked for the A.N. Kellogg syndication (which provided
similar services to Democratic and Republican papers throughout the Midwest).
Kellogg invented boiler-plate syndications and Cunningham was a pioneer in the
field of photoengraving. Both processes were necessary to the development
of inexpensive newspaper syndications containing cartoons.
The
illustrations must have struck a significant chord with readers because the
cartoons had to be purchased, and most Populist newspapers were run on a
shoe-string budget. It was a chord
that has touched the soul of American politics ever since, as evidenced by the
continued use of the word "Populist" to denote a person, group, or
idea at odds with a perceived elite or the establishment.
The cartoons taken from the Anthony Weekly Bulletin, Kansas
Populist, and Republic County Freeman were part of syndication pages.
Thus, these cartoons probably can be found in a number of other
small-town Populist newspapers at about the same date.
The following presentation is drawn from Populist newspapers preserved primarily by state historical societies and research libraries, and is designed for classroom use only. These cartoons are in the public domain, and may be used by anyone. I have provided citations to help anyone interested in finding them. Because these illustrations sometimes were microfilmed out of focus, or contained shadows, grit, blemishes, or other distortions, I used a graphics program to make them suitable for this presentation. Instructors may use the presentation online, or download and reproduce any or all of these illustrations, but for classroom use only.
All of the cartoons used
in this presentation, plus more than 100 other Populist cartoons, also can be
found in my book, Populist Cartoons: An Illustrated History of the
Populist Movement in the 1890s (Kirksville: Truman State University
Press, 2011).
Those wishing to publish any of the "cleaned up" cartoons in
book, articles, or other websites need to request permission from the Truman
State University Press. Most of the cartoon in this presentation were scanned in 100 dpi.
The illustrations in Populist Cartoons were scanned in 300 dpi.
How to Use the Cartoon Presentation
Each cartoon has a "More on Subject" link. I have collected all of them into one file for those who wish to print a copy.
Acknowledgements:
I wish to thank Mathew J. Vaughn, Roslyn Hamelink, and Mariya C. Adams for their help with cleaning up the cartoons, and Liang-Yi Lin and Mathew J. Vaughn for their technical assistance with this web page. I also wish to thank my former department head, Marc Cooper, for his support. I could not have completed this project without their help.