American Red Cross Life Saving Service

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Text on Button ARC BEGINNER LSS
Image Description

three separate pieces of blue text sits in a column formation.  Each word has a red square/cross to its left and right. Everything is set on a white background.

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GREENDUCK CO. CHICAGO
PAT FEB 13 1917
(illustration of duck)
(two pieces of indecipherable illustrations filled with text)
NO. 1215675
 

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The American Red Cross (ARC) Life-Saving Service (LLS) began in 1914 in reaction to the growing number of drowning deaths in the U.S. And as the public demand for swimming and lifesaving instruction spread, the toll of lives lost declined.  Participants would receive a button upon the completion of any one of several leveled classes.  The Beginner course covered the most basic of skills - safely entering and exiting the water, bobbing, treading water and opening eyes underwater to retrieve objects.

Catalog ID CL0256

American Legion Welcome

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Text on Button WELCOME AMERICAN LEGION LEGIONNAIRE
Image Description

A golden badge with gold text inside and blue text above/below it on a white background. 

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The American Legion was founded in 1919 as a non-profit veterans organization. The American Legion advocates for veterans benefits such as medical care, housing, and education. It also sponsors youth baseball leagues and boy scout troops.  American Legion members are referred to as "Legionnaires".

Catalog ID CL0250

Amalgamated Transit Union

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Text on Button JAN - FEB - MAR - APR - MAY - JUNE - JULY - AUG - SEPT - OCT - NOV - DEC - DIV. #241 A.T.U. AFL-C10 1965
Image Description

An illustration of a trolley and a bus with green text above and below the illustration. A green ring with white text on it surrounds the illustration. The illustration and green text are set against a white background. 

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The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Local 241 was chartered on 1 April 1902 in Chicago, Illinois under the name Amalgamated Association of Street and Electrical Railway Employees of America (AASEREA). The AASEREA, itself, had been founded ten years before in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1964, the AASEREA changed its name to the ATU.

The 1960s was the decade of the Civil Rights movement and a period of racial integration in American cities.  Chicago was no different.  While equal rights debates and skirmishes made headlines in the newspapers and top stories on the evening news, Division 241 leaders did not see it as something to debate.  Racial debates were not a topic allowed at meetings.  Its official stance was that all people had an equal right to a job and membership.  In 1968, African-American members of the 241 also thought that leadership positions should be equally distributed, too.  It took over one year to convince the union of equal leadership opportunity, but by 1971, it was the ATU's position internationally.  

Sources

About Local 241. (n.d.). Local 241 Amalgamated Transit Union AFL-CIO/CLC. Retrieved October 3, 2014, from http://transitweb.atu.org/sites/midwest/local241/index.cfm?action=artic…

Amalgamated Transit Union Staff. (1992). A history of the Amalgamated Transit Union. Retrieved October 3, 2014, from http://www.atu.org/atu-pdfs/conventiondocs/convention-docs/History-of-t…

Catalog ID CL0259

Amalgamated Association of Street and Electrical Railway Employees of America 1950

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Text on Button DIVISION 241 1950 JUNE
Image Description

An illustration of a trolley with blue text below it and white text on a curved pink stripe above it. The trolley and the blue text are set on a white background. 

Curl Text 313MFG FORICHAS M.GERAGHTY INC. CHICAGO
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The Amalgamated Association of Street and Electrical Railway Employees of America (AASEREA), Local 241 was chartered on 1 April 1902 in Chicago, Illinois. The AASEREA, itself, was founded ten years before in Indianapolis, Indiana. Street railway employees had been trying to organize since the late 1880s, but it took Samuel Gompers, of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), to become involved to get the union off the ground.  

A likely topic at the June 1950 would have been the union's new pension plan being adopted nationwide. It had been proposed and later awarded to Chicago's 241 and 308 the previous year. The new pension plan was based upon time in the career and overall earnings, rather than a flat amount for all pensioners. 

Sources

About Local 241. (n.d.). Local 241 Amalgamated Transit Union AFL-CIO/CLC. Retrieved October 3, 2014, from http://transitweb.atu.org/sites/midwest/local241/index.cfm?action=artic…

Amalgamated Transit Union Staff. (1992). A history of the Amalgamated Transit Union. Retrieved October 3, 2014, from http://www.atu.org/atu-pdfs/conventiondocs/convention-docs/History-of-t…

Catalog ID CL0257

Amalgamated Association of Street and Electrical Railway Employees of America 1958

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Text on Button JAN - FEB - MAR - APR - MAY - JUNE - JULY - AUG - SEPT - OCT - NOV - DEC - DIV. #241 AFL-C10 A.A. OF S.E.R. & M.E. OF A. 1958
Image Description

An illustration of a trolley, a train, and a bus with purple text above and below the illustration. A purple ring with white text on it surrounds the illustration. The illustration and purple text are set against a white background. 

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The Amalgamated Association of Street and Electrical Railway Employees of America (AASEREA), Local 241 was chartered on 1 April 1902 in Chicago, Illinois. The AASEREA, itself, was founded ten years before in Indianapolis, Indiana. Street railway employees had been trying to organize since the late 1880s, but it took Samuel Gompers, of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), to become involved to get the union off the ground.  

In 1958, Division 241 members earned up to $2.52 per hour, which was up one dollar an hour from the late 1940s.  The reason for the steady, if not sharp, wage increase of nearly one dollar over the previous decade was that the union's president had encouraged unions to negotiate cost-of-living raises based upon the consumer index.  The wage made Chicago drivers the best paid in the union. 

Sources

About Local 241. (n.d.). Local 241 Amalgamated Transit Union AFL-CIO/CLC. Retrieved October 3, 2014, from http://transitweb.atu.org/sites/midwest/local241/index.cfm?action=artic…

Amalgamated Transit Union Staff. (1992). A history of the Amalgamated Transit Union. Retrieved October 3, 2014, from http://www.atu.org/atu-pdfs/conventiondocs/convention-docs/History-of-t…

Catalog ID CL0258

Amalgamated Association of Street and Electrical Railway Employees of America 1933

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Text on Button DIVISION 241 A A OF S & E R E OF A DECEMBER 1933
Image Description

An illustration of a trolley with green text below it and red and green text above it.  Around the trolley is a Christmas wreath and everything is set on a white background. 

Back Paper / Back Info

GERAGHTY & COMPANY
G  Union Label
3035-37 W.LAKE ST.
CHICAGO. USA

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The Amalgamated Association of Street and Electrical Railway Employees of America was founded in 1892. The union originated during a meeting of the American Federation of Labor in 1891 at which president Samuel Gompers was asked to invite the local street railway associations to form an international union. The first president of the union was William J. Law, with the headquarters located in Detroit. Today, the union is now known as the Amalgamated Transit Union.

Catalog ID CL0238

Alhambra Grotto Masonic Organization

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Text on Button ALHAMBRA GROTTO JUNE 1926 (MR. ERMONDSUN?)
Image Description

Cloth-like surface. Red around the outer edge with a blue background and white text along the top and the bottom and an illustartion of a person in a red turban with horns on either side of their head over a white banner with the faint remainder of text that appears to say N. ERMONDSUN or MR. ERMONDSUN

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Printed & Manufactured BY STEINER ENGRAVING & BADGE CO. 804 Pine St. St. Louis. With a union bug in the center

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The Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Real, a.k.a. M.O.V.P.E.R., is an organization composed of Master Freemason's who are dedicated to good fellowship and friendship. The organization is subdivided into subunits known as "Grottoes". One such Grotto is the Alhambra Grotto in St. Louis, Missouri. It maintained a clubhouse for its membership located in the Liederkranz Society Hall in St Louis. The Grotto also maintained its operations in a facility in Phelps County, Missouri complete wth recreational facilities and a small railroad station in a country club-like atmosphere.

Catalog ID CL0297

Advanced Beginner Swimmer

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Text on Button ADVANCED BEGINNER SWIMMER
Image Description

A red cross on a red background with white text on a blue ring surrounding it.

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The Advanced Beginner Swimmer button was awarded to participants who completed the same self-titled swim class offered by the American Red Cross throughout the U.S. During the mid to late 1900s, various swim clubs and public pools taught these water safety and skills classes by ARC certified instructors.  Some primary goals of the Advanced Beginner Swimmer class was for participants to enter the water by jumping from the side of the pool, use combined leg and are movements, and bobbing.  General aquatic safety for the Advanced Beginner Swimmer included calling for help, and recognizing when they've spent too long in the sun.   

Catalog ID CL0244

1921 Club

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Text on Button 1921 CLUB
Image Description

White text on a blue background. 

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union bug

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The 1921 Club is Robert Morris University’s official athletics booster club. Donors support student athletes and, in return, receive special access to athletic events. Robert Morris University (RMU) is located in Moon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The date on the button (1921) refers to the year RMU was founded. The university is named after Robert Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and financier of the American Revolution. It is not affiliated with Robert Morris University-Illinois.

Catalog ID CL0233