Overview
Political buttons and badges from U.S. presidential campaigns, miscellaneous other political campaigns and events, and general buttons with various insignia such as national flags and U.S. state seals.
Dates
- Creation: 1856-1918
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Extent
3 linear feet (9 boxes)Collection includes 599 buttons, medals, emblems, badges, pins, etc. for the following: U.S. Presidential campaigns (1856, 1860, 1864, 1896, 1900, 1904, 1908 and 1912); Dedication of Grant's Tomb (1897); New York State governor campaigns (1906 and 1908); New York City various campaigns (1897 and 1905); Admiral Dewey celebrations (1899); Visit of Prince Henry of Prussia to US (1902); World War I medals (1917-1918); US state seals; National flags; Republican and Democratic emblems; and miscellaneous other materials.
Collection includes buttons, stickpins, lapel pins, medals, emblems, badges, portrait photographs, tintypes (gem photographs), ribbons, etc. This collection includes all types of political insignia, but the general term "buttons" has often been used in the category titles. At the item level, materials are counted as buttons only when they are round "buttons" with either a pin-back or stud fastener. The rest of the items are counted as "items." The text that appears on all materials is listed within quotation marks.
Biographical / Historical
Lieder received his A.B. in 1902 from Cornell University and his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1907. He was a professor of Germanic Languages at Harvard University.
Arrangement
Organized into the following two series:
- I. United States presidential campaign buttons
- ___1856
- ___1860
- ___1864
- ___1896
- ___1900
- ___1904
- ___1908
- ___1912
- II. Other materials
- ___A. By date
- ______1897: Dedication of Grant's Tomb
- ______1897: Election of the Mayor of New York City
- ______ca. 1897: Greater New York area elections
- ______1899: Dewey Celebrations
- ______1902: Visit of Prince Henry of Prussia to the U.S.
- ______1905: New York City mayorial election
- ______1906 and 1908: New York State gubernatorial election
- ______1917-1918: World War I
- ___B. By topic
- ______American flags
- ______Democratic Party
- ______Eagles
- ______Flags of countries
- ______Liberty heads
- ______Prohibition Party
- ______Republican Party (GOP)
- ______Socialist Labor Party
- ______Tigers
- ______United States state seals
- ______Unclassified items
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Professor Frederick William Charles Lieder, Cambridge, Massachusetts; received: 1919 May 7.
Recataloged from US2185.64*.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt with the assistance of Charlotte Gray.
- Title
- Lieder, Frederick W. C. (Frederick William Charles), 1881-1953, collector. Frederick Lieder political button collection: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou00219
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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