Description
Book SynopsisWhen Sunflowers Bloomed Red provides a synopsis of a Kansas style of radical tradition and shows how the Great Plains agrarian movement transformed and coalesced with socialist and syndicalist political movements to influence politics and culture in the twentieth century and beyond.
Trade Review"[
When Sunflowers Bloomed Red] does important work in recovering Kansas radicalism beyond the populists and deserves a wide readership."—John W. McKerley,
New Mexico Historical Review"The research shines through in this valuable body of work, which is a reminder of this overlooked story of socialism in the Sunflower State."—K. A. Mahajan,
Chronicles of Oklahoma"
When Sunflowers Bloomed Red is a welcome addition to the history of the American Midwest that should have appeal to students, scholars, and general readers."—Greg Hall,
Annals of Iowa"
When Sunflowers Bloomed Red is a carefully researched and thoughtfully written history of socialism in Kansas. It offers a model for understanding both the popularity of socialism in mid-America and the reasons why it ultimately failed to mount an effective challenge to industrial capitalism. Perhaps most importantly, the book serves as a reminder that the economic system so many Americans now see as natural was highly contested for much of the early twentieth century."—Michael Pierce,
Missouri Historical Review"
When Sunflowers Bloomed Red is bound to serve for years to come as an indispensable resource for scholars, teachers, and students interested in broadening their understanding of the immense impact that radical left-wing political movements had in Kansas in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."—Chase M. Billingham,
Kansas History“R. Alton Lee and Steve Cox weave radical movements into an intricate web that reveals their vibrancy, their successes, and their failures. Ever a hotbed of radical thought and radical people, Kansas, often before the rest of the nation, embraced the equality of women, the need to organize and protect laborers and farmers, and the common sense of municipal ownership of utilities.
When Sunflowers Bloomed Red gives Kansas its rightful place as a center of alternative thinking about democracy in these United States; it serves as both guide and inspiration.”—Thomas Fox Averill, professor emeritus of English, Washburn University of Topeka, and first director, Center for Kansas Studies
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Capitalistic Socialist
2. The Empathetic Socialist
3. The Female Socialists
4. The Mining Socialists
5. The Successful Socialists
6. The Wobblies
7. The Losing Socialists
8. The Depression Radicals
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
