She is Maxine Elliott, born “Jessie Carolyn Dermot” in Rockland, Maine, in 1868. At the age of fifteen she enrolled as a student at the Notre Dame Academy in Roxbury Mass. In 1889 she adopted her stage name “Maxine Elliott” making her first appearance in 1889 in “The Middleman”. She later appeared in “The Merchant of Venice” on Broadway in 1903 where she became a star.

Here is a really neat oversized pocket mirror that is part of my collection.

When Booker T Washington came to Alabama, he saw how poor black families were living in poverty and ignorance, sleeping and eating is little cabins. He realized that the only way blacks would ever achieve economic independence, racial solidarity, and self-respect would be through self-improvement and agricultural advancement. So, in 1881 he helped to found the Tuskegee Normal School for ColoredTeachers. This school started as a ‘School Farm’ educating students about agriculture and farming.

After Lindbergh’s famous flight from New York to Paris in May 1927 in his Spirit of St. Louis airplane, he instantly became famous all over the world for this achievement. 

Here are a couple of sepia pinback buttons from my collection that I really adore. I found them about 20 years apart.....maybe more.

Ambark Ali was a Vaudeville actor that actively performed in New York and surrounding areas in the 1910 to 1920 time period. Information is sparse on Ali, but I found a number of advertisements in newspapers and entertainment magazines for him performing with other entertainers at various vaudeville houses (Liberty in NYC, National Winter Garden, Lyceum in Rochester NY, Smith Opera House in Geneva, NY, etc).

4" Pinback button.  From the NEA union Int. convention held in Chicago, July 2000.

This is a 1-inch pinback button from my collection that I think is pretty unusual and has a great design.

"Soitenly" a favor of mine and one of the greatest natural comedians of all time, Curly Howard of Three Stooges fame would have been 109 years old October 22nd. 

The 1st Colorado Volunteer Infantry Regiment had an interesting history, especially betwen 1898-1899 because of their involvement in two wars. Originally, they participated in the Spanish American War where they were sent to the Philippines to help force Spain to surrender the country. Then, because the Flipinos did not get independence as they were expecting, the Philippine-American War developed and continued until 1902. The 1st Colorado stayed around to fight the Filipino insurgents until summer of 1899, at which time they came back home to the US.