Anarchy SRAF

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Text on Button ANARCHY SRAF
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Red background with a large, black five-pointed star in the center. Over the star are red letters with a black outline; small black text appears under the star around the rim. 

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[sticker: 7]

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In the early 1970s, the Social Revolutionary Anarchist Federation (SRAF) was formed, existing until the late 1980s. This network allowed any organization in North America that identified as an anarchist group to join. The network included an interesting mix of communist, capitalist, individualist, and “yippie” groups from various North American cities. While the larger network agreed upon anarchist ideas, each smaller group held wildly different opinions about politics and life. This created a less than ideal situation for joint gatherings. However, individuals found comfort and acceptance within their chosen groups, which gave them a sense of belonging and a place to discuss issues important to them. The network published pamphlets, bulletins, and magazines created by the various groups, which allowed for back and forth debates. These publications can still be found in archives, such as the Kate Sharpley Library, and provide an interesting glimpse into the issues anarchists found important in the 1970s and 80s. 

Sources

Anarchist Publishers. (2009, July 13). The Social Revolutionary Anarchist Federation: Revolution by the book. Revolution by the Book | The AK Press Blog. https://revolutionbythebook.akpress.org/2009/07/the-social-revolutionar…;

1972: Social Revolutionary Anarchist Federation declaration. libcom.org. (2010). https://libcom.org/article/1972-social-revolutionary-anarchist-federati…;

 

Catalog ID PO0841

Operation Osprey

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Text on Button OPERATION OSPREY LOCH GARTEN RESERVE The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds RSPB
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Off-white border and black text with a dark yellow center and a brown and white illustration of an osprey in the center foreground

Curl Text AMALCO made in Britain THE ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS
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Originally founded as the Plumage League in 1889 by Emily Williamson, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) started as a campaign against the use of feathers in fashion that were driving birds to extinction. The all-women movement was born out frustration that the male-only British Ornithologists Union was not taking the issue seriously. In 1904, the group was officially awarded the Royal Charter, making it a Royal Society and marking the name change to RSPB. In 1921, the Importation of Plumage (Prohibition) Act was instated in the United Kingdom making it the first successful nature campaign for RSPB. RSPB works to promote the conservation and protection of birds and the environment through the operation of nature reserves throughout the UK. Today, it is one of the world’s largest conservation organizations with over a million members. 

The Loch Garten Reserve located in Scotland, houses the Osprey Center and was purchased by charity through the RSPB. It is a bird-watching facility that focuses on a nesting pair of ospreys. An osprey is a large, long-winged hawk that lives near seacoasts or large waterways where it flies over the water to hunt fish. They are also nicknamed the fish hawk. Ospreys are just one bird that was almost wiped out to extinction due to careless behavior of humans in the UK (and around the world) in the 19th and 20th century. However, in 1954, out of their own accord two Ospreys began nesting in the Loch Garten Reserve and slowly helped recolonize the species in Scotland. In 1959, the pair successfully began breeding which was also the birth of RSPB’s Operation Osprey. The goal was to raise awareness and support to monitor and protect the pair (and other Ospreys). In 2019, the original pair were no longer breeding in the reserve. However, good news came in 2022, when a new pair took over the reserve to nest and successfully began to raising their young. 

Sources

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopedia (2024, January 3). Osprey. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/animal/osprey-bird

Ramage, T. (2022, July 15). Delight as new osprey chicks ringed at RSPB Loch Garten Nature Centre. The Northern Times. https://www.northern-times.co.uk/news/osprey-chicks-delight-at-loch-garten-281568//

Rare Bird Alert. (2019, July 10). RSPB Scotland celebrates 60 years of Loch Garten Ospreys - and you are invited. Rare Bird Alert. https://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/RSPB_Scotland_celebrates_60_years_of_Loch_Garten_Osprey_Centre_and_you_are_invited.aspx?s_id=868417882#:~:text=This%20protection%20and%20public%20engagement,the%20UK%20would%20be%20secured.

Royal Protection Of Birds. (n.d.). Our History. RSPB UK. https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-us/our-history

Catalog ID CA0924

McG & Sarge

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Text on Button McG & SARGE
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Two red stripes on a white background around the rim with a red union bug; blue-tinted photographs of George McGovern and R. Sargent Shriver—both laughing—are in the center on a white background

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[sticker: 51]

Curl Text © BRISTOW BOX 1741 SANTA CRUZ CA 95060
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George McGovern and Sargent Shriver ran as the democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates in 1972 against their republican counterparts Nixon and Agnew. Both candidates fought against racial and class inequalities well before the 1972 election. McGovern, director of Food for Peace in 1961, expanded the program’s school lunch initiative that helped feed tens of millions of hungry children around the world. Shriver created the Peace Corps and fought for the War on Poverty by establishing programs and encouraging others to join the initiative. 

Despite their landslide loss to Nixon and Agnew, McGovern and Shriver garnered widespread support from students, anti-war activists, and reform liberals who aided in the grassroots approach by campaigning door-to-door for the democratic candidates. Their campaign has been considered as one of the most memorable due to the number and quality of campaign posters and memorabilia produced by the artistic community. Famous artists, such as Andy Warhol and Sister Corita Kent, produced artwork in support of McGovern and Shriver.

Sources

Knock, T. J. (2016). Rise of a prairie statesman - the life and Times of George McGovern. Princeton University Press. 

R. Sargent Shriver. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. (n.d.). https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/r-sargent…;

Wert, H. E., & Heishman, R. (2015). George McGovern and the Democratic insurgents: The best campaign and political posters of the last fifty years. University of Nebraska Press. 

 

Catalog ID PO1258

Kiss My Whip

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Text on Button KISS MY WHIP
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Purple text on a white background; an illustrated hand on the right-hand side is holding a purple whip that encirlcles the text

Curl Text CBC Box 521 Santa Cruz, CA 95061
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Catalog ID IB0845

Linda Ronstadt for First Old Lady

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Text on Button Linda Ronstadt FOR FIRST OLD LADY
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Off-white text and stars on a gold background on the bottom half of the button; dark blue cursive text and gold stars with blue outlines on an off-white background on the top half of the button

Curl Text © 1979 CBC Box 521 Santa Cruz, CA 95061
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Linda Ronstadt met Jerry Brown in 1971. At the time, he was California's Secretary of State, and her career in music had not yet made her famous. By 1975, Ronstadt's album Heart Like a Wheel was climbing the charts. Brown announced his candidacy for President of the United States in March, 1976. His bid for the presidency was unsuccessful, but in November, 1979, he announced he would again seek the Democratic nomination in 1980. Ronstadt performed several benefit concerts for Brown, and the public began referring to her as the First Lady. Brown ended his campaign on April 1, 1980, after falling behind in the nomination process. The pair remained friends, eventually parting ways as their careers took them in different directions.

While the term “Old Lady,” seems derogatory, it was actually a term of endearment for a long-time girlfriend in the 1970s. Describing Ronstadt as “First Old Lady” was an appeal to elect Brown to make the rock superstar the First Lady of the White House.

Sources

Linda & Jerry 1971-1983. (n.d.). The Pop History Dig. Retrieved March 12, 2024 from https://pophistorydig.com/topics/linda-ronstadt-jerry-brown/

Catalog ID MU0576

Free Karl October 27

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Text on Button FREE KARL OCT. 27 AMNESTY FOR ALL U.S. WAR RESISTERS
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Red text on a yellow background

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[sticker: 5]

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During the Vietnam War, university campuses became a hotbed of revolt. “Free Karl” was an anti-war sentiment on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus in 1973, calling for the withdrawal of the life sentence UWM student Karleton Armstrong was facing for the campus bombing of the Army Mathematics Research Center (AMRC). The October 27th rally held at UW-Madison Library Mall was one of many in an attempt to decrease Armstrong’s sentencing.

The AMRC was the only mathematics research center funded by the U.S. Government, receiving millions of dollars a year to assist the war effort. The center also worked on “Project Michigan,” which improved infra-red aerial photography and was later used to track down and kill rebel freedom fighters throughout South America.

Armstrong was a part of “The New Year’s Gang,” and their intention for bombing the AMRC was for no casualties: They bombed the building during their summer recess and called campus police to evacuate the area, which was never carried out. As a result, the demonstration killed Robert Fassnacht, a post-doctoral student who had no connection to the AMRC facility.

This event, called the Sterling Hall bombing, changed the way the anti-war movement existed throughout campuses across America – bringing the anti-war revolts to a tragic end.

 

Brown B., Sibler, G. 1979. The War at Home. Stadium Media LLC Studio. 

Glines, T. (2006). Review of Resistance or Terrorism? The 1970 Sterling Hall Bombing. The Journal of American History. 93(1), 156–158. https://doi.org/10.2307/4486066 

Karl Armstrong Defense Committee, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Winter Soldier Organization. (1973, October 27). Amnesty For All War Resisters. Madison, WI, USA. https://www.dpvintageposters.com/posters/political-and-protest/protest/amnesty-for-all-war-resisters-free-karl-smash-army-math-original-american-anti-vietman-war-protest-poster_10493 

The Karl Armstrong Defense Committee. (1973). Karl Armstrong and the AMRC: A Review of the Case, A History of Protest. https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/p15932coll8/id/80930 

Catalog ID CA0923

Harold Washington Our Next Mayor

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Text on Button OUR NEXT MAYOR HAROLD WASHINGTON
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Blue rim with white text around a black and white portrait photograph of Harold Washington

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[price tag: DISCOUNT PRICE $6.00]]

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Harold Washington was the first African-American mayor of Chicago; he held the position from 1983-1987. A Chicagoan from birth, Washington served in the army during World War II, and later moved into a career in politics: first as a Chicago Alderman, then in the Illinois state congress in the 60s and 70s, and then as US Congressman in the 1980s where he fought to defend the Voting Rights Act, the Equal Rights Act, and became known for advocating for issues important to his Black and Latino constituents. He ran for and won election as Chicago mayor in 1983. In 1987 he ordered a design competition for a new central library in downtown Chicago, and though Washington passed away from a sudden heart attack in November 1987, the library was dedicated and named for him in 1991—one of many institutions in the city named for Mayor Washington. Considered a strong orator, the Chicago Public Library created a digital archive of his speeches that can be accessed online. 

Sources

Chicago Public Library. (n.d.). About Harold Washington Library Center. Retrieved January 31, 2024, from https://www.chipublib.org/about-hwlc/

 

Harold Washington: Selected Speeches Digital Collection. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2024, from https://www.chipublib.org/harold-washington-speeches-digital-collection/

 

Pinderhughes, D. M. (2006). Washington, Harold. In C. A. Palmer (Ed.), Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History (2nd ed., Vol. 5, pp. 2267-2268). Macmillan Reference USA. https://link-gale-com.resources.skokielibrary.info/apps/doc/CX344470127…

 

Wetli, P. (2021, April 13). Harold Washington’s Speeches Can’t Be Heard, But Now They Can At Least Be Read. WTTW News. https://news.wttw.com/2021/04/13/harold-washington-speeches-digitized-chicago-public-library

Catalog ID PO1257

Congressman Fithian Telephone

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Text on Button 1 2 ABC 3 DEF 4 GHI 5 JKL 6 MNO 7 PRS 8 TUV 9 WXY 0 OPER Congressman Fithian 800 382-7517
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Black and white graphic designed to look like the dial of a rotary telephone with black text on a white background in the center

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[sticker: 105]

Curl Text [union bug] By authority of the friends of Floyd Fithian, Katie Wolf Chairperson, Robert Mucker, Treasurer.
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Floyd Fithian was was a congressman who served the state of Indiana in the House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983. A Democrat who won the seat of Republican Earl Landgebe in the highly conservative area of Lafayette Indiana, he was reelected, serving a total of four terms. In addition to working as a congressman, he worked as a Purdue University professor, a farmer, and in politics as chief of staff for Illinois senator Paul Simon. He died June 27, 2003 in a nursing home at the age of 76.

Sources

Floyd Fithian; Former Congressman, 76. (2003, July 7). New York Times, B6. https://link-gale-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/apps/doc/A104723728/BIC?u=csusj&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=afeb5b84

 

L. A. Times Archives. (2003, July 4). Floyd Fithian, 76; Congressman, Farmer, Purdue Professor. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-04-me-passings4.3-stor…

Catalog ID PO1256

John Kurtz Neon Orange Cat

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Neon orange cat with googley eyes and green and yellow features hand-painted in relief

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JAK '23

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In 1961 John A. Kurtz received a scholarship to attend the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. After a stint in the Navy and an early career in photography, he turned to painting in 1968 and has continued since. Influences include comics such as George Herriman’s Krazy Kat and Walt Kelly’s Pogo, and Mad Magazine artists Wally Wood, Jack Davis, and Basil Wolverton. His colorful art continues to be displayed in galleries around Chicago.

Sources

Hagan, Anthony. (2017, April 29). Aliens, clowns, birds and some sort of skull with John A Kurtz. Style No Chaser. Retrieved from https://stylenochaser.com/aliens-clowns-birds-and-some-sort-of-skull-with-john-a-kurtz-style-no-chaser/

Catalog ID AR0493

John Kurtz Dark Orange Cat

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Dark orange cat with red and yellow features hand-painted in relief

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JAK '23

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In 1961 John A. Kurtz received a scholarship to attend the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. After a stint in the Navy and an early career in photography, he turned to painting in 1968 and has continued since. Influences include comics such as George Herriman’s Krazy Kat and Walt Kelly’s Pogo, and Mad Magazine artists Wally Wood, Jack Davis, and Basil Wolverton. His colorful art continues to be displayed in galleries around Chicago.

Sources

Hagan, Anthony. (2017, April 29). Aliens, clowns, birds and some sort of Skull with John A Kurtz. Style No Chaser. Retrieved from https://stylenochaser.com/aliens-clowns-birds-and-some-sort-of-skull-with-john-a-kurtz-style-no-chaser/

Catalog ID AR0492