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By the end of the 1970's, the movement against the use of nuclear power had spread globally, with groups in Germany and other parts of Europe coming together to protest the opening of nuclear power plants. Before the highly publicized accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl brought to the forefront the question of plant safety, the primary concern was that the very existence of nuclear power threatened the future of the world. In 1978, a protest was organized in New York City near the United Nations at a time when the United States was in talks to pass the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act. The poster for the event featured an illustration of the globe at the center of a mushroom cloud with the title, "Evacuation Would Be Impossible." Though nuclear weapons have not been used since 1945, nuclear accidents as recent as the Fukushima disaster in 2011 have continued to raise concerns about the threat nuclear power poses to the environment and to the future of political relations worldwide.

Yellow button with red text in the center going in a circle and around it is the image of a sun.

Though the 1970's saw a rising environmental movement following the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, interest in solar energy didn't really gain traction until 1973. An embargo by the OAPEC caused the price of oil to quadruple over the span of a year, resulting in an oil crisis and national shortages. It raised serious questions about the United States's complete dependence on oil for power. In 1974, Nixon signed the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act, which attempted to regulate the environmental impacts of US energy demands. One of the possible solutions for lessening the use of oil was solar power. Enthusiasm for clean energy continued into the 1980's with further legislation passed to financially incentivize businesses to invest in solar paneling. Today, the U.S. is ranked second in the world for solar use, but it still only accounts for 2.30% of total U.S. electricity.

White button with black text. The image of a white person and a black person reading a book together appears in the middle.  

The Woodlawn Project in an on-going educational study of 1,242 people from the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago starting in 1966 when participants were in first grade. The Woodlawn Project partnered with the Chicago Board of Health, the University of Chicago, and Chicago public and parochial schools. The Student Woodlawn Area Project (SWAP) motto was Pergite Pergere, Latin for “Keep on Pushing”. The project aims to identify poverty and social issues affecting school-age children as a way to improve educational opportunities and health services in underserved communities, including the Woodlawn neighborhood. The study is ongoing and consists of six monitoring stages: first grade, teenage years, young adulthood, a mother's interview, mid-life, and an aging assessment. 

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People have been concerned about the effects of nuclear weapons since the mid 1950s, stemming from nuclear tests in the Pacific, but there was no real movement against nuclear power until the early 1970s when some scientists started to raise concerns about the dangers of nuclear power. The movements combined into an international antinuclear movement that encompassed both antinuclear power and antinuclear weapons activities by the mid 1970s. This button was made in 1977 and became an international symbol of the antinuclear movement. It was used to protest the proposed creation of a floating nuclear power plant off the coast of New Jersey. This power plant was proposed in the early 1970s and canceled in 1978 after environmental protests.

Grey button with blue, red and green text. An image of black hands breaking free from chains appears on the button. 

The South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) was a national liberation movement in Namibia and is a major political party in the country today. It was founded on April 19, 1960, by Andimba Toivo ya Toivo and Sam Nujoma. During the Namibian War for Independence, the SWAPO became the major force that fought South African attacks and was recognized by the U.N., in 1972, as “legitimate representative” of the Namibian people. The Namibian War for Independence ended in 1988 and its first election was held in 1990. The country elected Sam Nujoma as its first president. Since then, the SWAPO has been the governing party of the country; in 2014, it received nearly 87% of the popular vote.

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In 1972 Colorado passed an amendment to their state constitution guaranteeing equal rights for women within the state. In 1976 Colorado's Measure 6 was proposed to remove the equal rights amendment from the state constitution. This button was worn in opposition to the measure, which did not pass.

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The Immoral Minority was created to oppose the Moral Majority. The Moral Majority was formed in 1979 by Jerry Falwell, and supported Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election. The Moral Majority wanted prayers in schools, a ban on abortion, and an end to Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) with the Soviet Union. They also opposed the ERA. By calling themselves the Moral Majority, they made their opposition the Immoral Minority, a name which some liberals seized with pride. A group formed in Olympia, Washington who called themselves the Immoral Minority. They used humor to combat some of the policies of the Moral Majority.  November 4, 1980 was the presidential election where Reagan was elected for the first time.

Teal and White button with white lettering on the top half and on the bottom half an image of stripes and the statue of liberty appears. 

In the 1960s, the pro-choice movement became a major political movement in the United States. Pro-choice supporters believe that women have the right to terminate a pregnancy and legally have an abortion. Abortion became legal in the United States after the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in the landmark case, Roe v. Wade. Since that time, the issue has remained relevant as the pro-life movement, which advocates for the right to life for unborn babies, seeks to overturn this decision and make abortion illegal. The platform of Democratic Party has aligned with abortion-rights advocates, and a number of different organizations support the cause, as well.

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The death of God is a concept taken from the 19th century German philosopher Neitche, who meant that God was no longer a valid source of morality. In the 1960s this idea evolved into the death of God theology, which argues that the concept of God is no longer relevant in our secular world. Supporters believe that Christianity should become a philosophy of love based in Jesus's teachings. This button plays on the concept of the death of God. It also references the conspiracy theory that Hitler did not die, but fled to Argentina, as many other Nazis did after WWII. It satirizes both conspiracy theorists and Christians, by implying that God being alive is a conspiracy theory.