Abstract
The personal aspect of the rise and fail of the Populist movement in the United States deserves far better than its present over-simplified, almost forgotten, historical status. At best, the Populist of the 1890's has often been pictured as an uncultured ’’hayseed” and opportunist who did little but stir up a new brand of radicalism in support of reforms which have since been credited to the Progressives. In a very real sense, we have built up our own image of what a Populist was, despite the fact that little has actually been done to establish and document the men themselves, their backgrounds, the personal reasons for their radicalism, and the course which they followed once their crusade had collapsed. Rather, the historian, too frequently has chosen to take the easy way out, by furthering the tabloid associated with “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman, “Sockless" Jerry Simpson, and “hell-raising” Mary Lease. As a result, the image has stayed but the humanity of the individuals is destroyed.