Blue-tinted photograph of Rodriguez in the center surrounded by red text on a white background

William E. Rodriguez was a lawyer and politician from Illinois. Born in Naperville, Illinois in 1879, Rodriguez became active in Chicago politics following his graduation from high school, and joining the Socialist Party of America, in the early 1910s. Rodriguez became the first Hispanic alderman in Chicago after his 1914 election for Chicago city council and was reelected in 1916. He remained active in Chicago politics until his death in 1970. 

Red cursive text on a white background

Born in 1941, Ernest Evans, better known by his stage name Chubby Checker is a singer, songwriter, and actor. He was given the nickname Chubby Checker by Barbara Clark—the wife of television and radio personality Dick Clark—and played homage to another famous singer, Fats Domino. Checker is credited with inventing the dance craze The Twist after his version of the 1959 Hank Ballard song was released in the 1960’s. The song popularized a new style of couples dancing that continues to be influential to this day. The Twist became a chart-toping hit and the was followed up the next summer with a successful sequel Let's Twist Again; most of Checker’s early work featured some play on his first hit. Checker is credited with seven top ten hits on The Billboard Top 100 including Pony Time and Limbo Rock. As of 2024, Chubby Checker still actively tours and performs around the United States. 

Black text on a light yellow background

Resentment transpired towards United States involvement in the Vietnam War when the U.S. conducted its first draft lottery since World War II. The draft became a driving force for protests across the country as it compared the drafting age to legal drinking and voting ages. Men were drafted to war as young as eighteen, meanwhile, the legal voting and drinking age was 21. Protestors criticized the fact that 18 to 21-year-old men were old enough to fight and die for their country yet not old enough to vote or drink in it.  

The slogan “old enough to fight, old enough to vote” became popular during the Vietnam War era and was used similarly in the argument to lower the legal drinking age. In 1971, the 26th Amendment lowered the legal voting age from 21 to 18. Around the same time, 29 states lowered their legal drinking age to anywhere between 18 and 20. However, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed in 1984 and forced states to raise the legal drinking age to 21, or they would lose integral federal highway funding. The argument of being able to fight and die in war but not being able to drink continues to persist well into the 21 century.

White text on a blue background stylized so that the  letter "I" appears to be a drum stick

Vic Firth, a percussionist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was unhappy with the quality of sticks available to him in the early 1960s. He began to craft his own drumsticks to suit his needs, by whittling wood or using a wood turner. Word spread, and the craft shop that he started in his garage has grown into a company with over 200 varieties of drumsticks to suit an individual percussionists’ needs.

Blue litho photograph of Len Small in the center on a white background surrounded by white text on a red rim on the top and a blue rim on the bottom

Jim Ridings, author of Len Small: Governors and Gangsters, states in the summary of his book that Lennington “Len” Small was the “most corrupt politician in Illinois history.” Ridings’ work is the only book on Small, the 26th governor of Illinois (1921-1929). Six months after becoming governor, Small was accused of embezzling state funds while he was the Illinois Treasurer from 1905 to 1907. There has been reason to believe that Small was in business with famed American gangster Al Capone, as Capone may have played a part in jury tampering during Small’s embezzlement trial. Small was acquitted, though eight of the jurors were suspiciously given state positions following the end of the trial. Throughout his time as governor, Small pardoned over 1,000 convicted felons and several members of the Communist Labor Party of America. Small was re-elected for a second term as governor with help from the Ku Klux Klan after allowing them to hold rallies on state fairgrounds. In 1928, Small lost the Republican primary for governor; he died in 1936. 

Aged yellow background with green text and two green lines separating the text.

Please contact us if you have more information.

Red outer band on top with aged white text and blue outer band on bottom with aged white text. Blue background with aged white stars, and red and aged white stripes in center, overlaid with three circles with black and aged white images of soldiers and black text. Tattered red, white, and blue ribbon at bottom of button.

Memorial Day is a federal holiday recognized in the United States on the last Monday of May since 1868. It's a day to honor those in the military who have died in the line of duty. One way to express thankfulness and respect is by placing flowers or flags on their gravestones and remembering the past wars in which they fought. The dates on this button are significant: In 1861 a confederate nation was formed in the United States setting off the Civil War. The Spanish-American lasted several months in 1898. And in 1917, the United States joined as allies in World War I. 

Red outer band with cream text and a cream center with red text and a thin cream line around the outer rim

According to the organization’s website, the South Dakota State Society (SDSS) is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization “designed to provide a social and professional network for South Dakotans, their friends and families living, working and attending school in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.” The SDSS was created for both native and adopted South Dakotans in the greater Washington metropolitan area to “share their common bond” and the “spirit” of the state of South Dakota. Many members sported membership buttons such as this one housed at the Button Museum. The SDSS became inactive in 1982 but then saw a revival in 2008. The group hosts an annual “Midwest Inaugural Gala” in January of each year at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. The SDSS hosts this gala alongside the State Society of Iowa.

White and green text on a green, white, and red background.

Michael Bilandic was the acting Democratic mayor of Chicago after the death of Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1976. He ran for reelection and won, retaining his role as mayor in 1977. Bilandic was not nominated in the primary of the following election due to a number of issues, but cited chief amongst them was his poor handling of public transportation access in the wake of a massive snowstorm in 1979. While little information is accessible about whether Bilandic’s campaign had direct outreach to Latino voters, historically Bilandic and his predecessor did little outreach in general to Chicago’s Latino community, and it wasn’t until the election of Mayor Harold Washington that more direct outreach to Latino and Black voters was made.

Purple text and a small, purple bird on a cream colored background

Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the United States, serving one term from 1977 to 1981. The ‘Georgia Mafia’ was a term associated with Carter’s closest advisors during his presidency. Originally applied in a somewhat lighthearted way by Carter’s own supporters, including the Peanut Brigade (a group of Carter’s campaign volunteers hailing from Georgia), the term eventually became used as an insult thrown at the Carter administration in regard to his close-knit group of aides who some saw as inexperienced and who others saw as secretive or even corrupt. 

The so-called Georgia Mafia was made up of many of Carter’s allies from his gubernatorial administration, including Hamilton Jordan as the White House Chief of Staff and Bert Lance as the director of the Office of Management and Budget, among others, and as a group were widely critiqued by establishment Democrats for their grassroots backgrounds and what some saw as a lack of political experience. The term also became one of disparagement utilized by conservative groups and others, such as the American Agriculture Movement, to point to corruption surrounding the Carter administration and their involvement with Lancegate (President Carter’s presence at the office of Lew. Jenkins in 1975 where aide, Bert Lance, was being approved for a substantial personal loan, considered suspicious and a conflict of interest by Carter’s opponents) as well as gaining traction in response to the 1977 Farm Bill and the American Agriculture Movement’s 1977 protest, “Tractorcade,” that descended on President Carter’s hometown in Georgia. 

The phrase ‘Dump the Georgia Mafia’ was popularized in the late 1970s by critics and opponents of Jimmy Carter, with myriad merchandise of the same sentiment being created by organizations such as the American Agriculture Movement, who released several bumper stickers and pinback buttons addressing the Carter administration throughout the height of their activity. The phrase is thought to have originated as an echo of prior political condemnations against the Nixon administration’s ‘Southern Mafia’ but with a conservative anti-Carter sentiment. Perhaps hailing from the GOP or other conservative groups, similar merchandise can be found from the same era calling to ‘Impeach’ or “Dump Carter,” along with various other slogans and criticisms.