Collection includes typescript copies of
speeches and newsclipping scrapbooks that cover the period when Rogers was
governor. Also includes photographs, ephemera and tributes to Governor
Rogers.
Repository:
Washington State University Libraries
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special
Collections
Funding for encoding this finding
aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Biographical Note
As a teenager, John Rankin Rogers went to Boston and apprenticed at a
drug store. By 1856, he moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he managed a drug
store until 1860. Rogers moved to Illinois where he farmed and worked as a
school teacher and a druggist. In 1876, he moved to Kansas where he again
farmed. In 1878, Rogers became an organizer of the Farmers' Alliance. He also
served as editor of the Kansas Commoner for several years in Wichita. Rogers
was an active member of the farmer-based wing of the populist movement
throughout the time of it existence.
In 1890, John R. Rogers moved to the state of Washington, where he
settled in Puyallup and operated a drug store. Rogers also served as a leader
of the Populist party in Washington. In 1895, he was elected to the state
legislature as a Populist. While a lawmaker, Rogers drafted and secured passage
of the "barefoot schoolboy bill." The new law made cities bear part of the
expense of funding country schools, with the idea of giving equal educational
opportunities to all children in the state.
John R. Rogers was elected Washington's one and only Populist governor
in 1896. His victory was the product of a fusion of support among Populists,
silver Republicans, and Bryan Democrats that pushed Rogers to a victory over
his closest opponent, Republican P. B. Sullivan, by over 12,000 votes. As
governor, Rogers continued to support state education reform. In addition, he
promoted government efficiency and prison system reform.
Throughout the 1890s, Rogers authored many volumes with populist
themes. These include: The Irrepressible Conflict; or An American System of
Money, 1892; The Rights of Man and The Wrongs of Man, 1893; Politics: An
Argument in Favor of the Inalienable Rights of Man, 1894; Homes for the
Homeless, 1895; Free Land: The Remedy for Involuntary Poverty . . ., 1897;
Looking Forward, or The Story of an American Farm, 1898; Life, 1899; and The
Inalienable Rights of Man, 1900.
In September 1900, the Fusionists renominated Rogers as governor and
he was reelected as a Democrat in November by a plurality of 2,000 votes, in
the face of a plurality for the national and state Republican ticket of 13,000.
Rogers served less than a year of his second term before a he died on December
26, 1901 after a short bout with lobar pneumonia.
John R. Rogers married Sara L. Greene in Illinois on March 17, 1861.
They had five children: Frederick J. Rogers, professor of physics at Stanford
University; Albert R. Rogers, newspaper editor, Santa Barbara, California;
Edwin R. Rogers, businessman, Tacoma; Mrs. William Blackman, Spokane; and Helen
Rogers, Tacoma. Sara Greene Rogers was born on May 4, 1840 in Gallipolis, Ohio.
She died in Washington in 1909.
Content Description
John Rankin Rogers' papers consist of several types of documents, from
family genealogy records to Rogers' gubernatorial speeches to memorials made at
his death in 1901. The collection also includes Rogers' newspaper clipping
scrapbooks, photographs, and ephemera.
The majority of the collection is devoted to typescript copies of
speeches that Rogers made while governor and newspaper clipping scrapbooks that
cover this same period. While the two sets of Rogers' speeches have much
duplication, the manuscripts included with these papers are invaluable because
they include Rogers' handwritten margin notes.
The scrapbooks include news stories on Rogers' abilities and
activities as governor, offering both praise and criticism. In addition, many
of Rogers' speeches are found, in newsprint form, in the books. Finally, much
of volumes four and five were assembled after Rogers' death. They include
obituaries, memorials, and tributes to Governor Rogers.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
This collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation :
[Item Description]. Cage
615, John Rankin Rogers
Papers. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
The collection is arranged by type of document, and then by
chronology.
The scrapbooks follow a rough chronology, regardless of the titles on
their bindings.
Custodial History :
Mrs. W. A. Hall, of Bellingham, one of Rogers' daughters, had
previously held a large portion of the collection, including newspaper clipping
scrapbooks and typescripts of speeches. Fred R Yoder acquired the the John R.
Rogers papers from the Rogers family in 1942.
Acquisition Information :
The papers of John Rankin Rogers, Governor of the State of Washington,
1897-1901, were received as part of the papers of Fred R. Yoder, MS 92-77, in
1994.
Processing Note :
These papers were separated from the papers of Fred R. Yoder, MS
92-77, in 1994. They were accessioned as MS 94-50.
Separated Materials :
The papers of Fred Roy Yoder, from which this collection was
separated, are maintained at WSU Libraries MASC as
Cage
620.
Related Materials :
The copies of Rogers speeches in this collection serve as an adjunct
to a collection of speeches (Cage 4193) given by Frederick J. Rogers to the
State College of Washington Library in 1932.
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
The Absolute Certainty of Washington's Future
Greatness, [to the editor of the
Seattle Times], undated
1 / 5
A Forced Advance, undated
1 / 6
Governor Rogers' Veto of the Capitol Bill [the 1st
Capitol Bill], undated
1 / 7
My Greatest Punishment and Its Lesson, undated
1 / 8
The Reign of Law, [version A] , undated
1 / 9
The Reign of Law, [version B] , undated
1 / 10
Fourth of July Address of Governor Rogers, at New Whatcom,
Washington., July 5th, 1897
1 / 11
The School Life. An address delivered by Governor
Rogers before the graduating class of the Washington State Agricultural
College, at Pullman, Washington, June 24th, 1897
1 / 12
Post-prandial speech of Governor
Rogers of Washington at anniversary dinner of First Free Church of Tacoma at
Masonic Hall, Tuesday evening, November
30th, 1897
1 / 13
[
Governor John R. Rogers and Woman Suffrage] for
the
Oregonian by Mrs. Blankenship [dateline:
Olympia], January 19,
1898
1 / 14
Future Commercial Development of State of
Washington, [given at meeting of] Tacoma Chamber of
Commerce., Jan 26, 1898
1 / 15
Address at Normal School,
Ellensburg, June 15, 1898.
1 / 16
Veto of 3d Capitol
Bill,, March 8
1899.
1 / 17
Manifest Destiny. Part of Speech of Gov. Rogers at
Whatcom banquet, Tuesday night]., March 28,
1899
1 / 18
Jefferson and Popular Government. Speech of
Governor John R. Rogers at Jeffersonian Banquet, Tacoma, April 13th
1899
1 / 19
Decoration Day Address of
Governor Rogers at Wash'n Soldiers Home [in Orting], May 30th, 1899. [Used
previously for address at Palouse, Wa., for the Whitman Co. Veterans
Association], May 26, 1899
1 / 20
The Kingdom of Hope. Address of Gov. Rogers at
commencement exercises, Tacoma Normal Training School., June 14, 1899
1 / 21
The Progress of Man. An address delivered by Gov.
John R. Rogers, at the Commencement Exercises of Cheney Normal
School, June 22nd, 1899
1 / 22
Address of Gov. Rogers at
Tacoma., July 4th., 1899
1 / 23
Address of Gov. Rogers, Return of
1st Washington Volunteers, Seattle., November 6,
1899
1 / 24
The Ideal in Literature. By Gov. John R. Rogers,
written for Holiday edition,
Saturday Mail, Seattle, 1899
1 / 25
Battle of Life. Address of Gov. Rogers to
Graduating Class, University of Washington., May 29, 1901
1 / 26
Address of Gov. Rogers at Funeral
of Co. J. J. Weisen- burger, Whatcom., Sunday June
9th, 1901
1 / 27
Special Message of Gov. Rogers to
Legislature,, June 11, 1901
1 / 28
Response of Gov. Rogers to the
Toast: "The School for the Citizen Soldier--The National Guard"; at the G.A.R.
Banquet, Germania Hall, Tacoma., Thursday eve,
June 27th, 1901
1 / 29
Summary of 4th of July Address at
Everett, 1901., July 4, 1901
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Personal Names :
Rogers, John Rankin, 1838-1901 --Archives
(
creator)
Rogers, John Rankin, 1838-1901--Speeches, addresses,
etc.
Family Names :
Rogers family--Genealogy
Geographical Names :
Washington (State)--History--Archives
Washington (State)--Politics and government
Corporate Names :
Washington (State). Governor (1896-1901 :
Rogers)
Subject Terms :
Governors --
Washington (State)--Speeches, addresses, etc.
