Placing the Movement . . .

In the 1870s, farmers created farmer's alliances to address economic problems that they were facing.  In 1891 they joined with labor and reform groups to create The People's Party.  The party had enough popular votes during the election of 1892 to influence the Democratic Party's platform during the election of 1896.

Books & Audio-Visual Material

The Library Catalog will show listings for all colleges in the district as well as the Harris County Public Library System and the Montgomery County Public Library System. You can use your current library barcode and pin number to request materials from these libraries. If you cannot find what you need, please contact a Reference Librarian. 

Useful Keywords:

Populist Party
People's Party
Election 1892
Election 1896
Populism
Southern Farmer's Alliance
William McKinley
William Jennings Bryan

Useful Call Numbers:  

Selected Reference Books . . .

Dictionary of American History

[Ref E174.D52 1976] Essay on Populism in volume 5.

Dictionary of American Biography

[Ref E176.D562] The final supplement contains a complete index of subjects.

Encyclopedia of American Political History

[Ref E183.E5 1984] See the essay in volume 3.

Encyclopedia of Allegorical Literature

[Ref PN 56.A5L44 1996] See essay on Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Selected Circulating Books . . .

The Annals of America

[Ref E173.A793] See 1891 essays in volume 11 & 1895 essay by Laughlin as well as 1896 essays in volume 12.

Great Events from History: American Series

[Ref E178.M22] See essay on Organization of the People's Party, p.1225.

Encyclopedia of American Social History

[Ref HN 57.E58 1998]See the index in the back of volume 3 for references to Populism and the People's Party.

Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought

[Ref JA 61.B57 1991] See entry on Populism.

Encyclopedia of American Government

[Ref JK 9.E59 1998] See volume 3 for an article on Populism.

National Party Conventions

[Ref JK 2255.N376 1995] See section on convention chronologies and section on party profiles.

Reserve items are materials your instructor has placed at the second floor Reserves/Circulation Desk. 
Bibliographies at the end of books or journal articles have references to other sources.
 

Databases

Databases act as indexes to magazines, journals and some books.  Many offer full-text articles. You may access databases from campus or from home with your library card. Possible databases to search include:

Academic Search Complete  - Includes articles from history and government journals and magazines - many available in full-text.

History Reference Center - Offers full-text chapters from reference materials, magazine articles, and some primary source material.

ProQuest - Provides articles,often full-text,from newspapers, magazines, and academic journals. Articles can be printed, downloaded, or e-mailed.

JSTOR - Complete historical full text of all issues of journals in a wide range of humanities and social science fields.

Useful Web Sites . . .

1896 - The Presidential Campaign Cartoons & Commentary
Project from Vassar College which provides an introduction to one aspect of the campaign: the hundreds of political cartoons published in newspapers around the country.

Literature on American Populism
Listing created by Michigan State University with links to multiple essays on populism.

The Rise and Fall of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a "Parable on Populism"
As published in the JOURNAL OF THE GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF HISTORIANS, vol. 15 (1994), pp. 49-63.