White text on a red background. 

The Independent Order of St. Luke (IOSL) was a mutual benefit society founded in 1867. This organization played a prominent role in the history of African-American women. For 35 years it was led by Maggie Lena Walker (c. 1867-1934), a teacher and activist who eventually became the first female bank president in the United States. The IOSL’s original purpose was to provide for the care of the sick and burial of the dead, although its activities expanded over the decades to include youth programs, economic assistance such as insurance and mortgages, and political activism. When Walker took over the organization in 1899 it was in decline, but under her leadership it grew from 1,085 members to over 100,000.

The IOSL was focused on improving the financial independence of the African-American community during the Jim Crow era. In 1903 Walker founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, VA, which served African-American clients, many of whom were women. Under her direction the IOSL also began publishing the St. Luke Herald, a newspaper that reported on the injustices faced by African-Americans, including segregation and lynching. The IOSL disbanded in the 1980s.

Ewing, A. (2005). Independent Order of St. Luke. In Black Women in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Image of two ballerinas. The ballerina on the left is wearing a green tutu and whispering into the ear of another ballerina to the right who is holding her hand over the opposite ear. 

The painting on this button is visually similar to the painting "Two Dancers 2" by Edgar Degas. The button image has his signature in the upper right.

White text on a blue background.

Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity. Between 1910 and 1911 Béla Schick developed the Schick test to detect preexistent immunity to diphtheria in an exposed person. Only those who were not exposed to diphtheria were preferably vaccinated. A massive five-year campaign was coordinated by Dr. Schick. As a part of the campaign, 85 million pieces of literature were distributed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company with an appeal to parents to "Save your child from diphtheria." A vaccine was developed in the next decade, and deaths began declining significantly in 1924.

Blue and orange print, all capital letters, saying "I'm with Stupid" with right hand index finger pointing out on white background.

“I’m with stupid” is a humorous insult commonly seen on t-shirts, with a hand pointing in one direction. The phrase is sometimes paired with a t-shirt worn by a second person stating “I’m stupid”. 

A pink thumbprint with an illustrated face and limbs below black text on a white background. 

Thumbody was created by Peter Petraglia, the creative director at Princeton Partners in 1971 as part of a financial services campaign sold to banks and credit unions across the United States. Thumbody was based on one of the agency partner’s own fingerprint. As part of the I’m Thumbody program ads, posters, shirts, banks, pins and other promotional items were created with the Thumbody design.

The text is black and centered on a white background. A red and white checkerboard acts as a border.

The phrase "I'm out for a wild time" typically means that someone wants to show a lack of restraint and have no inhibitions. This phrase, which likely became popular in the mid twentieth century, is still used today. 

An illustration of a bearded man holding a cane or pool stick and wearing a black hat and a black coat. His eyes are black rectangles and have black lines moving from them and his skin is a pale white. He is standing in front of an orange, yellow, black, and red painting on a grey easel.

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A black and white illustration of a man in a cannon above black text on a white background. 

Created by American cartoonist, playwright, and artist, Herb Gardner, The Nebbishes was a syndicated comic strip that was originally picked up by the Chicago Tribune and later syndicated to 60-75 major newspapers across the country. Running on Sundays from 1959-1961, the strip features characters called Nebbishes, which are small white blob-like creatures who often spoke with humorous self-deprecating mottos and sayings. Prior to the comic strip being picked up, the characters were already popular from their appearances on cards, napkins, and wall decorations. Gardner has mentioned in interviews that he used the name Nebbishes because in Yiddish, "nebbish" means an insignificant, pitiful person.

There is a red burst behind the text. The background is yellow and the text is black.

Slurpees were first introduced in 1967 when 7-Eleven stores licensed the name and product with The Icee Company. Slushed ice drinks were invented accidentally when Omar Knedlik, in the late 1950s, had a soda machine that broke down. Omar put his soda into the freezer to keep it cold and the beverages became slushy. So many people enjoyed the slushed soda that Omar created a machine that could intentionally make slushy drinks. The machine was initially located behind the counter of stores, but now customers can serve themselves with individual spouts for each flavor. New Slurpee flavors are introduced on a regular basis, but with much less frequency than in the 1970s.

Green letters in the shape of lips on the bottom with white text on the top. The background is blue.

Slurpees were first introduced in 1967 when 7-Eleven stores licensed the name and product with The Icee Company. Slushed ice drinks were invented accidentally in the late 1950s when Omar Knedlik had a soda machine that broke down. Omar put his soda into the freezer to keep it cold and the beverages became slushy. So many people enjoyed the slushed soda that Omar created a machine that could intentionally make slushy drinks. The machine was initially located behind the counter of stores, but now customers can serve themselves with individual spouts for each flavor. New Slurpee flavors are introduced on a regular basis, but with much less frequency than in the 1970s.