Maroon text on a white background

This button was created for the American Library Association in the 1970s during a time when there were not many librarian jobs available. The Social Responsibilities Roundtable, a unit within the ALA that works for progressive priorities for library professions, urged people to donate money to help support unemployed librarians.

The American Library Association is a non profit organization that supports and promotes libraries, library professionals and library education. The association was founded in 1876 and is the largest library association in the world.

Photograph of a woman's head and shoulders on a brown background in the center of the button with green text on a white background around the outer edge

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Illustration of a flag made up of a black long narrow triangle and a white long narrow triangle on a pole on a red background

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Blue text on a white background with a brown mug of beer. Red, white, and blue ribbon with gold lettering and a golden airplane.

This anti-prohibition button portrays the popular slogan, "We Want Beer." Many Americans shared the sentiment, including US troops coming back from foreign wars to discover one of their favorite freedoms had been taken away. Prohibition was mandated in the US in 1920 by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution and repealed in 1933 with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment. 

This button also serves as a celebratory souvenir of Charles Lindbergh's return to America after his famous 1927 flight to France on the Spirit of St. Louis. Lindbergh is famous for being the first person to pilot a nonstop transatlantic flight solo. In addition to his success as an aviator and explorer, he was also a military officer in the Army Air Corps Reserve. He was awarded the Model of honor for his flight. 

Green square around the ecology symbol with a red raised fist inside it on a white background

The ecology symbol was designed by cartoonist Ron Cobb in 1969 and was placed in the public domain so that it soon took off and became and iconic symbol of the 1970s, seen on buttons, T-shirts and posters. The ecology symbol, together with the raised fist, was a symbol of solidarity of the new ecology movement and a call to action to save the environment. The 1970s saw the first era of environmental awareness in the United States that resulted in the birth of the ecology movement, Earth Day, recycling, and the concept of being “green”.

Black text on a florescent orange background

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Illustration of a female wearing blue coveralls and a red and white polka dot bandana in her hair on a yellow background with a blue text bubble above with white text in it

We Can Do It was a propaganda poster designed in 1943 by graphic artist J. Howard Miller for the Westinghouse Corporation. The illustration is often mistakenly referred to as Rosie the Riveter (the true Rosie the Riveter artwork was painted by Norman Rockwell for the cover of the May 29, 1943 edition of the Saturday Evening Post). Miller’s poster was designed to encourage females to join the workforce during the Second World War, in order to help industries on the home front meet production demands. Today, We Can Do It continues to be reprinted as a symbol of determination and accomplishment.

Illustration of a black and white earth with colorful animals on top on a white background with black text along the bottom

Human-i-tees was an environmental t-shirt company in the 1990s that donated part of their profits from their environmentally themed products, like this button, to environmental projects in local communities. This button's message is that animals should not be mistreated and displaced because they were here before humans, which gives them the right to the land and natural resources they need to live.