Black and white picture of Eleanor Roosevelt's smiling face with white text on a blue border

Eleanor Roosevelt was First Lady of the United States from 1933 until her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's, death is 1945. While First Lady, she traveled and reported to her husband and his advisers about living and working conditions in the country, something no First Lady had ever done before. She also became an advocate for programs to alleviate the suffering of the Great Depression and for Civil Rights for African Americans, thereby changing the role of the First Lady forever. 

After her husband's death, Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed to the United Nations by President Truman, who called her the "First Lady of the World" because of her lifelong dedication to human rights. As chair of the UN Human Rights Commission she helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After she left the UN in 1953 she continued her humanitarian work with the Peace Corps and The President's Commission on the Status of Women in the 1960s and she was re-appointed to the UN by President Kennedy in 1961.

Blue and red text on white background.

There were attempts to draft Ted Kennedy to run for Vice President in 1968 after Bobby Kennedy's death and for President in 1972 and 1976. In all three elections he stated clearly that he would not accept a nomination if it were given to him. In 1980 he agreed to run in the Democratic primary after a large "draft Kennedy" campaign, but he lost to Carter. This button is probably from the 1972 election and references Ted Kennedy's opposition to the draft policies which allowed deferments for people who could afford to go to College and his support of amnesty for draft dodgers. 

Dark blue text on a white button

Thomas E. Dewey was a New York attorney who targeted organized crime and had a reputation for integrity and hard work. As Governor of New York (1942-1954) he passed laws banning job discrimination based on race or religion and increased benefits. He ran for President in 1944 and 1948 for the Republican party. This button is from his 1948 campaign against Harry Truman. Dewey represented liberal Eastern Republicans. He seemed likely to win from the beginning and he did not make many campaign speeches or take a strong stance on controversial issues. Dewey's election to the Presidency seemed so sure that the Chicago Tribune ran an early edition with the headline "Dewey Defeats Truman" before all the votes were counted.  Against all expectations Truman won the election and remained President.

Red button with black text. 

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Neon orange button with "Good people need carter" written in German on it in black text. 

This button translates from German to “Good people need Carter”. As part of Jimmy Carter’s 1976 campaign, buttons like this were minted in several languages

White button with blue text and a smaller blue circle with a large 4 in bubble letters. 

This button is from a 4th Ward Alderman election. Some cities are divided into wards, which are essentially electoral districts. An alderman is an elected representative of a district who serves on the city council or is part of a municipal legislative body.

Yellow and red button, with characters drawn lightly in both of those sections, with an image of The Simpsons family on top of a yellow world. Black and red text. 

The Simpsons Global Fanfest was a yearlong celebration to commemorate the show receiving its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  

The Simpsons is a show created in 1989 and it is still on air today and about to be in its 28th season.  It focuses on the family of the Simpsons, with Homer Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie as the main characters, but many other regular ones as well including Sideshow Bob and Moe. They live in Springfield. The show is known for being quite political and even sometimes predicting things.  They often have guest stars appear on the show and have been featured with other cartoons, including Rick and Morty and The Fairly Oddparents. It was created by Matt Groening, who also created Futurama. 

An image of a hieroglyph appears in the center of a black rimmed button with orange text. 

The Mummy, is an action/adventure movie, which opened on May 7, 1999. Directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, the film is set in Egypt where an American working on an archaeological dig awakens an ancient mummy. The movie was a surprise hit and grossed over $400 million worldwide. This success led to two sequel films, as well as a prequel film and an amimated series.

Yellow rimmed button with black and red text. An image of a genie bottle appears in the middle. 

For over 200 years, Aladdin has been one of the most popular pantomimes performed in England. The story was developed from the book The Arabian Nights and was first performed on stage in Covent Garden in 1788. Pantomime is a type of musical comedy stage production, which encourages audience participation. It was developed in England and is typically performed over the Christmas season.

This button is from a production of Aladdin performed at the Ashcroft Theatre, located in the London Borough of Croydon.

Black button with white text. 

The 1969 French-Algerian film titled Z is a political thriller, which gives a fictionalized account of the murder and investigation of the Greek politician, Grigoris Lambrakis. It is based on a book with the same title by Vassilis Vassilikos, The title comes from the English pronunciation of the letter Z, which means "he lives" in Greek.

The movie was directed by Greek filmmaker, Costa-Gavras​, produced by a French production company, and shot in Algeria. Z received critical acclaim and was nominated for a number of awards. In fact, it was the first film to be nominated for the Academy Award for both Best Foreign Language Film and Best Picture, winning the 1970 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.