Pink text on a white background

Ted Kennedy, younger brother of John F. and Robert Kennedy, announced his campaign for the United States presidency in 1980. In a heated race for the Democratic Party’s nomination against Jimmy Carter, an accident in which he had been involved ten years earlier received renewed attention.

In 1969 Kennedy accounted that he had driven his car off a bridge in the dark on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. His passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, remained trapped inside underwater. Kennedy tried to free her but stated that he was unable to find her in the dark water. During the investigation, conflicting reports, unanswered questions, and rumors of a coverup led to a scandal that would haunt him for the rest of his career.
 

Red text on a white background

In the 1970s, poet and editor Paul Feroe was employed by a small press distributer called Bookslinger, which was located in St. Paul, MN. While donning this button in a 1979 interview, Feroe explained the importance of supporting local poets, noting that large, commercial publishers only publish books that will sell at least 4,000 copies. Because of this, 86% of poetry was published by small presses in the 1970s. The small presses, Feroe explained, were more concerned with getting poems printed and out into the world than making money. Because of this, there was no money for advertising and marketing. Feroe made it his mission to get poetry out of academic settings and into the community by setting up displays, and organizing poetry readings in libraries. In a 2022 article, a small, independent publisher stated that large publishers still do not invest much on poetry and that most poetry is self-published. 

Red and red-outlined text on a yellow background with the characteristic McDonald's logo at the bottom 

A reference to a real-life condition of a heart attack, a Big Mac Attack is a pseudo-disease that describes the sudden urge to eat a Big Mac from McDonald’s. The only advice to cure the ailment was to immediately go to McDonald’s and get a Big Mac. Starting in 1976, McDonald’s put out advertisements asking if anyone was suffering from a “Big Mac Attack”. As a part of this campaign, the company sponsored popular sports teams, hosted a creative writing contest with a prize of free Big Macs, and even gave away a car.

Did you know that the Big Mac had two other names? The famous burger was first named “The Aristocrat” to advertise the burger as elegant, then “The Blue Ribbon Burger” to show off its “award-winning” taste. Both names didn’t click with customers. Finally, at a meeting with the company’s advertising department, Esther Glicken, a secretary at the time, recommended the name “Big Mac”. Everyone laughed at her suggestion, but ultimately the name stuck. For McDonald’s 30th anniversary, Esther Glicken was given a plaque officially identifying her as the person who named the sandwich.

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Invented in the 1980s, any library user that has passed through a library’s doors only to have an alarm go off may have encountered the Teeny Beeper. A device installed at entry points scans for the Teeny Beeper: a square, 2 inch tag that can be adhered to any part of a book, is versatile enough to be written and typed on without being damaged, and will become desensitized when checked out. Designed as a loss prevention tool for libraries, the sensor that read the radio frequencies from the Teeny Beeper could be installed in floor mats as well as standing screens. Many libraries today still employ some form of scanning device to ensure library materials that exit the building have been appropriately checked out. 

Lenticular button with alternating black and white photographs of McGovern and Eagleton on a white background with black text. 

After George McGovern won the Democratic nomination for president in 1972, nearly every single high-profile Democrat McGovern approached to be his running mate declined, including Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Hubert Humphrey, Edmund Muskie, and Birch Baye. After refusing McGovern's offer to run on the ticket, Senator Gaylord Nelson suggested Tom Eagleton as his running mate. With little thought, nor any background check, McGovern chose Eagleton.

This led to a campaign shrouded in controversy. There were rumors that Eagleton supported multiple issues that were controversial at the time like abortion and the legalization of marijuana. It had also been revealed that Eagleton had a history of mental health issues which Richard Nixon, the leading Republican candidate, used in a smear campaign. McGovern dropped Eagleton from his campaign and replaced him with Sargent Shriver but his reputation was already severely damaged at that point. This is seen as one of the many reasons why Nixon won in 1972.

Button is bisected diagonally with red text on a white background forming blue rhombus shapes on either side behind white text; red and white stripes align diagonally with the red text. 

America's Bicentennial in 1976 was a time of optimism for the country after the tumultuous 1960s and early 1970s. After the grand celebration in Washington, D. C., President Gerald Ford said: “Rarely in the history of the world had so many people turned out so spontaneously to express the love they felt for their country. Not a single incident marred our festival. The nation’s wounds had healed. We had regained our pride and rediscovered our faith, and in doing so, we had laid the foundation for a future that had to be filled with hope."

Color illustration portrait of William Howard Taft above an illustrated eagle holding a United States flag shield; blue text surrounds the illustration. 

Wesleyan College was founded in 1831 in Middletown, Connecticut by citizens of Middletown and Methodist leaders. One of Wesleyan’s beloved traditions is that of the Douglas Cannon. Originally used for ceremonial purposes, it was “stolen” in 1957 by students and returned the following year. Since then it has made many disappearances, many years long in some cases, before being spotted in photographs and personal appearances.

The 27th president of the United States, William Howard Taft served from 1909-1913. In September 1909, at the tail end of a 14,000 mile tour, President Taft took time to attend the inauguration of William Shanklin as president of Wesleyan University. The ceremonies of the day took place on the university grounds, but it’s noted in the Meriden Morning Record that, “the town completed its own celebration…with a display of fireworks. The crowds were large, but there were no accidents to mar the arrangements.”

Yellow letters with a black outline and red, orange, green, and blue 3-D effect accents on a white background 

While it has undergone many iterations, Vacation Bible School is widely credited as being started by Mrs. Virginia Sinclair Hawes in 1898 New York. After seeing her doctor-husband treat children for injuries incurred by playing outdoors all summer, she wanted to provide alternative, religious education opportunities. Informal nondenominational Christianity lessons over summers evolved with the involvement of more Baptist churches into organizations that compiled themed packages of lessons, videos, plays, and other material aimed at teaching religious messages to children over summers and evenings. Numerous VBS programs, memorabilia such as buttons, t-shirts, and hats were generated as keepsakes. 

Off-white background with red rext around the rim and black text on the bottom center; a black and white photograph of Paul Boutelle is in the center

Paul Boutelle (1934-2016), or Kwame Montsho Ajamu Somburu, was born in 1934 in Harlem, NY. Somburu was an activist and politician who became interested in politics as a young adult. In the 1960s, Somburu was involved in many activist organizations including Fair Play for Cuba Committee, Freedom Party Now, Organization of Afro-American Unity, Afro-Americans Against the War in Vietnam, and the Socialist Workers Party. He also attended many Black Power conferences. Somburu was friends with Malcom X, and was with him at the time of his assassination. 

Somburu was the chosen candidate to represent the Freedom Now Party for the 1964 election for the New York State Senate. He then ran as a socialist candidate for the 1966 election for State Attorney General. In 1968, as represented on this button, Somburu ran as the vice presidential candidate representing the Socialist Workers Party along with the presidential candidate, Fred Halstead. While many remember Somburu as the vice presidential candidate in 1968, his son, Asi, describes that time as one of many moments in his life-long activist career. 

Somburu left school at the age of 16, and began educating himself as he was “Bored with being indoctrinated with Christianity, Capitalism, and Caucasianism,”. Referring to this time in his life, Somburu said “I have no regrets at this time over this decision. When I started to acquire a real education in my early twenties, I did not have that much brainwashing to get out of my mind”. Somburu used the information from his self education to fight for the rights of the marginalized nationally and internationally. Later, he decided to go back to school, become a teacher, and use his experience to educate public school children.

Black and white photo of Barry Commoner in the center, with a white background and black text on either side of the photograph

Barry Commoner (1917-2012) was a cellular biologist, professor, ecologist, politician, writer, and a citizen who deeply cared about the environment. Known as the “Father of the environmental movement”, Commoner raised awareness of environmental issues such as radioactivity releases, energy, solid waste and recycling, global dispersion of pollutants, and the use of genetic knowledge. He founded the first Federally-funded environmental health sciences center in the United States, the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems, in 1966. 

In 1980, Commoner ran as a presidential candidate representing the Citizen’s Party, a party he co-founded. The Citizen’s Party was created out of a dissatisfaction with the democratic and republican parties as well as then-president Carter's conservative economic and environmental views. The party's platform was progressive,  pro-science, environmentalist, and emphasized the need to use renewable energy. Commoner was a perfect candidate as he was the catalyst for the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963. The Citizen’s Party was not able to win five percent of the vote due to the candidacy of independent John Anderson as well as the influence and power of the media. However, Commoner dedicated the rest of his life to studying and bringing awareness to the causes of the environmental crisis.