February 1, 2007

A major issue during the early-twentieth-century Progressive Era was the passage of the initiative and referendum. In the summer of 1910, Governor George Donaghey (shown here) and populist William J. Bryan made a five-day, 1,750-mile whistle-stop train tour through the state to support the passage of the measure in Arkansas. Before the tour was complete, fifty-five speeches had been delivered to an estimated 100,000 citizens. The measure passed by popular vote later that year.