ABSTRACT
The American Nonconformist, a newspaper widely read by radical Populists and published in Indianapolis, printed several hundred such letters from children in the months prior to the 1892 presidential election. In addition to riding on floats in parades, frolicking at Alliance picnics, and giving recitations, children were educated in economic principles and actively recruited as reform workers. The newspapers of the National Reform Press Association frequently included a "children's corner." The most direct and persistent recruitment of children was that of the Nonconformist's children's editor, Aunty Rose. Most of Rose's responses to the children's letters praised the work they were doing and pleaded for more help. The children knew that the Populist Party was new and sometimes talked of their relatives' conversion from the "old parties." Children's participation also was naturally affected by the activities and ideology of mothers. Women's and children's farming work, often essential, provided a basis for their participation in the traditionally male world of politics.
