We Shall Overcome

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Text on Button We Shall OVERCOME
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"We Shall Overcome" is a folk song popularized by Pete Seeger, adapted from a gospel song of the same name, which was itself adapted from a hymn from 1901 called "I'll Overcome Someday". The song became an anthem of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, becoming widely known after Seeger and other famous folk singers of the 1960s performed the song at rallies and folk festivals. Martin Luther King Jr. recited the lyrics to the song in his final sermon, in Memphis, on Sunday March 31, 1968. The song has now been adopted worldwide by a variety of political and social movements.  

Sources

Bobetsky, Victor (2014). "The complex ancestry of "We Shall Overcome"". Choral Journal. 57: 26–36.

Stewart, Nikita. (2018, April 2). “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop," Dr. King’s last sermon annotated. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/02/us/king-mlk-last-sermon-…

Catalog ID CA0659

Southern Christian Leadership Conference SCOPE Project

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Text on Button SCLC SCOPE PROJECT
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The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. launched a campaign to promote voter registration among African-Americans in the South. The project known as The Summer Community Organization and Political Education or SCOPE, began in 1965 and lasted until 1966. The project was launched in 120 counties throughout the South to encourage and embolden African-Americans to vote and resist segregationist policies. Many activists for the SCLC were not met with open arms by many Southerners. Reports of beatings, threats of violence especially with guns, and even being tear gassed were common as White Southerners saw the SCLC as agitators. Overall, the program was a success with over 49,000 new voters registered, many citizens were given political literacy classes, and were exposed to different ideology from the influx of college students and activists. 

Catalog ID CA0660

Meals On Wheels

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Text on Button MEALS ON WHEELS
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Meals on Wheels is a commonly used name for many home-delivery food programs. The program originally began in the United Kingdom during World War Two to reduce food insecurity and to keep morale high during the frequent bombings of London. The program was later adapted for the United States in the 1950’s to support seniors and other house-bound citizens with receiving adequate food. Initially it was implemented state-by-state until 1974 when the Federal government adopted a nation-wide program to improve living conditions for vulnerable groups. There are currently over 5,000 different senior nutrition programs that are supported by U.S. Meals on Wheels. 

Catalog ID CA0658

Freedom Now CORE

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Text on Button FREEDOM NOW CORE
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Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was founded in 1942 by a group of 50 activists, 1/3rd were black while the rest were white, to protest racial segregation in the United States. Their primary tactics were to employ non-violent civil disobedience as a means of protesting segregation. CORE was instrumental in organizing the freedom rides in the American South to protest segregated public transportation and assisted in many demonstrations throughout the 1960’s. 

Catalog ID CA0661

Freedom

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Text on Button FREEDOM
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Since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Americans have been searching for the true meaning of freedom. From the Civil War to the collapse of the Nazi government, from the American Revolution to the American Civil Rights Movement, and from women’s suffrage to the legalization of same-sex marriage, Americans struggled in ways to define freedom. Although there is currently no clear answer on what freedom truly means, Americans have been fighting endlessly for freedom, and it helps shape what the United States is today.

Sources

Chicago History Museum. (2019). Facing freedom in America. https://facingfreedom.org/

Chicago History Museum. (n.d.). Facing freedom in America. Exhibitions. Retrieved July 27, 2021, from https://www.chicagohistory.org/exhibition/facing-freedom-in-america/

Stern, E. (2020). Live free or die: The struggle for freedom in America. The Michigan Daily. https://www.michigandaily.com/columns/live-free-or-die-struggle-freedom-america/

Stovall, T. (2021). Liberty’s discontents: The contested history of freedom. The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/annelien-de-dijn-freedom-history/

Catalog ID CA0655

ERA Yes Blue and White

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Text on Button ERA yes
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In 1971, Rep. Martha Griffiths (D-Michigan) introduced the Equal Rights Amendment to the House of Representatives. The Amendment to the Constitution was to guarantee protection of Women from sex-based discrimination and successfully passed both houses of Congress, the Presidency, and was ratified by 35 of the necessary 38 states to achieve full passage. However, Phyllis Schlafy led a campaign to prevent ratification on the basis that the law unfairly treated housewives and could force women to be drafted into the armed forces. The Amendment had a specific deadline of 1979 but even with an extension until 1982 granted by a joint resolution in Congress the Amendment still failed to receive the necessary support for ratification. 

Catalog ID CA0657

Crayon Heart

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White illustration of a crayon drawing a heart shape on a red background

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The heart shape is a graphic symbol representing an expression of love. The use of the heart shape originated in the Middle Ages, though it wasn’t used to symbolize love until the 15th century.

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Catalog ID AR0339

Playboy Bunny

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White illustration of the Playboy logo (a side view of a rabbits head) on a black background

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This image is an alteration of the Playboy Enterprises logo, probably a bootleg button. The official logo has been unchanged since it was designed by the magazine's first art director, Art Paul, in 1953. Though similar to the official logo, the image on this button differs due to the bunny's bent ear, its nose, and the additional middle crease in its bow tie. 

Sources

Mosi A. (n.d). The Complete History of Playboy Logo. Logo Design Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.logodesign.org/the-complete-history-of-the-playboy-logo/

 

Catalog ID AD0778