Black and white text on a green background

"Take the rich off welfare," is a campaign slogan for former Oklahoma Senator (1964-1973), Fred Harris. In 1976, Harris led a grassroots effort to gain the democratic nomination for President, eventually losing to Jimmy Carter. His platform pushed for the United States to redistribute its wealth by “getting the rich off welfare.” Harris frequently championed issues of human rights and income equality. During his term as Senator, he worked toward creating the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission and helped pressure President Lyndon B. Johnson into forming the National Advisory Committee on Civil Disorders. He is credited as being the “Godfather of Populism” by Jesse Jackson and was interviewed by Rolling Stone Magazine in 1975 in an article titled, Fred Harris: A populist with a prayer, The Senator responsible for “a new populism.” After his political career ended, Harris went on to teach political science at the University of New Mexico and penned 6 books, including 2 novels and a memoir.

Blue text and an illustration of red and blue flowers with two white birds at top on a white background

Smoking stinks was the key slogan of a campaign against smoking by the American Cancer Society in the 1970s through the 1990s. They ran a series of commercials in 1978 depicting Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, and Sleeping Beauty rejecting their princes for smoking. The flower arrangement can be seen at the end of television commercials as an early representation in the media as the flowers represent something that smells nice and was adopted to contrast the bitter smell of cigarette smoke.

Yellow text on a black background

The Movement for Economic Justice was formed by George Wiley in 1972 after he stepped down from the National Welfare Rights Organization. Wiley was firmly dedicated to fighting for welfare rights for low income families, and although he was CEO of the NWRO, he believed a broader movement that would promote progressive taxation and redistribution would benefit all Americans dealing with high property taxes. Following Wiley's untimely death in August of 1973, the MEJ was dissolved. 

Black text on a white background

“No” is a denial, a negative vote or answer, and used to mean not any.

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

Blue text and an illustration of a shooting star on a white background

"One in a million" is a slogan used by those who play the lottery, a form of gambling that distributes prizes, often large sums of money, among a group of people by chance of those who have drawn the correct numbers from a defined set of numbers. The phrase has been used in many state lottery games in the United States and the star logo can be seen across multiple designs linking them to the lottery system. The grand prize for a lottery winner was often around a million dollars so the phrase one in a million was both to distinguish a player overcoming great odds and also to reinforce a large sum prize money.

There are several variations on the traditional pick six numbers lottery game including pick three, mega millions, and powerball. Powerball is a variation introduced in 1992 where a specific ball, a different color, is pulled and that number may warrant different rewards. The player selects five numbers from 1 to 69 for the white balls, then selects one number from 1 to 26 for the Powerball. There are 9 ways to win the Powerball jackpot. If there are no winners for a given session, the jackpot rolls over to the next contest. In 2021, the Powerball lottery expanded and now includes three days of draws. As of 2021, the odds of winning a prize playing Powerball are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

Red text on a white background

The first recorded strike in the US occurred in 1768 when a group of NY tailors demanded higher wages. From the 1800s, unions proliferated as the demands of the Industrial Revolution forced workers to seek protections. Membership began to flourish during the Great Depression as President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to strengthen unions, and by the end of WWII more than 12 million workers were unionized.

Significant pushback against unions began in the 1970s in an increasing environment of deregulation, monopolies, competitive pressures, and a wave of foreign goods entering the country. Many saw unions as counter-competitive, and with the election of Ronald Reagan anti-union policies took center stage. Between 1975 to 1985, union membership fell dramatically. By the end of the 1980s, less than 17 percent of American workers were unionized, which was half the amount of the 1950s.

White and blue text on a blue background

The phrase, “freeze profits, not people,” was very popular with Richard Nixon’s opponents in the mid 1970s. At a corporate funded Boston Tea Party reenactment in 1973, protesters took over the event throwing oil barrels into the water holding signs that read “freeze profits, not people” as well as “Down the King Richard” referring to President Nixon. The phrase has been used in common speech after that time to protest increasing utility rates and shut-offs of heat or power during the winter.

Black text on a light green background

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched his “war on poverty” with the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act. During his term, Johnson focused his efforts on assisting the 19 percent of Americans who lived below the poverty line through legislative action. In addition to the Economic Opportunity Act, which created eleven major initiatives like the Job Corps and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), Johnson also formed the Head Start, Medicare, Medicaid, and Food Stamp programs. These efforts were immediately effective and led to an 8 percent reduction in poverty rates by 1973—the lowest it has ever been since these measurements were recorded. Some of these initiatives, however, were undone by President Bill Clinton when he, along with the Republican-dominated Congress, passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in 1996.

According to Christianity Today, “young radicals” of the 1960s wore buttons with tongue-in-cheek slogans to “express their attitudes toward life.” Many of these buttons showed support for the Johnson administration or promoted peace. Others were simply humorous and touched on the main issues of their day. Some of these buttons read “I Want to Be What I Was When I Wanted To Be What I Now Am,” “Neuroses Are Red, Melancholy Is Blue, I’m Schizophrenic, What Are You?” and “End Poverty, Give Me $10.”

Black text on red background, with illustration showing workers breaking the "chains of injustice", 

The Western Service Workers Association (WSWA) has offices throughout the state of California (Anaheim, Oakland, Central Valley/Redding, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, and Watsonville), and is considered an active "entity" of the National Labor Federation (NATLFED). NATLFED is run by volunteers and organizes workers who have been excluded from collective bargaining protections provided by law. NATLFED was established in the early 1970s, led by Gino Perente, a former member of the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (the predecessor of United Farm Workers of America). 

The stated purpose of NATLFED and its entities is to provide support and assistance for low-income service workers. However, concerns have been raised about the group's lack of transparency and "cult-like" activities. Some former volunteers have described the organization as a front for the Provisional Communist Party of the United States, and a 2016 book by Sonja Larsen, "Red Star Tattoo- My Life as a Girl Revolutionary," described the abuse of women that she witnessed and experienced as a member of the group. Founder Gino Perente was believed to be con-artist Gerald Doeden, living under an alias. Perente gave lectures to volunteers on the writings of Stalin, Marx and Lenin and removed himself from public view in the late 1970s. After Perente's death in 1995, and an FBI raid on a New York office in 1996, access to organizational and operational information regarding NATLFED has been limited. 

Black text on a blue background

Air pollution, and the health risks associated with it, became a concern for the United States government in the mid 20th Century. In 1963, the U.S. Government enacted the first Clean Air Act followed by the Air Quality Act in 1967. These acts together authorized new monitoring programs and research studies on air pollution in the United States. Regulations and standards based on these findings were then put into practice with the Clean Air Act of 1970. Besides codifying new nationwide standards for air pollutants, this Act created the Environmental Protection Agency and gave it the authority to implement and enforce the new standards. Vehicle emissions were of particular interest at this time, and new regulations governed both the cars and the fuel. Car manufacturers were limited in how much pollution their cars could produce, while fuel refineries were banned from adding certain ingredients, including lead, to commercial gasoline. The Clean Air Act has since been amended twice, in 1977 and in 1990.

Compared with 1970, the United States now experiences 66.9% less air pollution and life expectancy has increased by 1.3 years.