Diane Solomon Civil Rights and Viet Nam War Era Button Collection
MSS-2007-11-14
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
Phone: (408) 808-2062
Fax: (408) 808-2063
Email: special.collections@sjsu.edu
URL: http://www.library.sjsu.edu/sjsu-special-collections/sjsu-special-collections-and-archives
URL:http://library.sjsu.edu/sjsu-special-collections/sjsu-special-collections-and-archives
Title: Diane Solomon Civil Rights and Viet Nam War Era Button Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MSS-2007-11-14
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
10.0 Linear feet,
1 Box,
2 Flat File Drawers
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1960-1979
Date (inclusive): 1954-1989, 2008
Abstract: The Diane Solomon Civil Rights and Viet Nam War Era Button Collection represent the history of social and political movements
during the 1960s and 1970s. Political buttons have been used for centuries as a means to support political candidates and
later became popular in promoting specific social causes. Political buttons, pins, fobs and banners were very popular and
inexpensive to produce. The buttons in the collection represent many of the social and political movements of the 1960's and
1970's, including the Civil Rights Movement, Anti-war movement in Vietnam, feminism and women’s rights, the war on poverty,
immigrant and farm labor, gay rights, and the counterculture movement in San Francisco. Images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
Bobby Seal, Angela Davis, Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Cesar Chavez, are well represented, as
well as the Black Panther Party, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC),
and the National Organization of Women (NOW), and many others. A small collection of newspapers documenting San Jose State
University and Martin Luther King Jr. are included.
creator:
Diane Solomon
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for
permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the SJSU Special Collections & Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not
intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions
also apply to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational
purposes.
Access
The collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
Diane Solomon Collection, MSS-2007-11-14, San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Toni Nix. Finding aid created in the Archivsts' Toolkit. Reviewed by Danelle Moon.
Biographical History
Diane Solomon is a local journalist and political activist in San Jose, California. Solomon attended San Jose State College
as a student of New College, an experimental four-year libral arts program, and later she received a Masters degree. She developed
an early interest in political and social movements and at age 14 she started collecting political buttons. Solomon continues
the hobby of button collecting, while working as a freelance journalist, accountant, and as the radio host of “A Meeting of
the Ways, on Radio KKUP.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Diane Solomon Civil Rights and Viet Nam War Era Button Collection represent the history of social and political movements
during the 1960s and 1970s. Political buttons have been used for centuries as a means to support political candidates and
later became popular in promoting specific social causes. Political buttons, pins, fobs and banners were very popular and
inexpensive to produce. The buttons in the collection represent many of the social and political movements of the 1960's and
1970's, including the Civil Rights Movement, Anti-war movement in Vietnam, feminism and women’s rights, the war on poverty,
immigrant and farm labor, gay rights, and the counterculture movement in San Francisco. Images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
Bobby Seal, Angela Davis, Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Cesar Chavez, are well represented, as
well as the Black Panther Party, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC),
and the National Organization of Women (NOW), and many others. A small collection of newspapers documenting San Jose State
University and Martin Luther King Jr. are included.
Arrangement
The Diane Solomon Civil Rights and Viet Nam War Era Button Collection is arranged into two series: Series I: Political Buttons,
1954-1989, 2008 (Bulk 1960-1979); Series II: Newspapers, 1957-1968 (Bulk 1962-1964).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Civil Rights Movement
Martin Luther King, Jr and the Civil Rights Movement
San Jose State College
San José State University
Social Movements -- United States -- History
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements
Series I: Political Buttons,
Bulk, 1960-1979
1954-1989, 2008
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description
2 Flat File Drawers
Scope and Content of Collection
The Diane Solomon button collection documents the diversity of social and political movements that emerged during the 1960s
and 1970s through a diverse collection of buttons that were used to support a variety of political positions and social movements.
The production of political buttons in the U.S. has a long history, dating back to the inauguration of George Washington.
By the late 1890s buttons, pins, fobs, and banners were used extensively in political campaigns. The creation of buttons to
promote political candidates has extended into social movements and culture. From the 1960s to the present, political buttons
are no longer an ephemeral publicity tool, but are avidly collected.
The buttons in the collection represent many of the social and political movements of the 1960's and 1970's, including: Civil
Rights Movement, Anti-war movement in Vietnam, feminism and women’s rights, the war on poverty, immigrant and farm labor,
gay rights, and the counterculture movement in San Francisco. Images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Seal, Angela Davis,
Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Cesar Chavez, are well represented. As are some of the most important
movements of the era that include the Black Panther Party, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Students for Democratic Society (SDS) and the National Organization of Women (NOW), and
many others. A small collection of newspapers documenting San Jose State University and Martin Luther King Jr. are included.
Arrangement
This series has been arranged topically by specific the political and social movements and placed into archival trays. The
organization of the buttons in each tray is based on the arrangement of the donor.
Trays 1-5: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Black Panthers, and Civil Rights Buttons
1954-1970, 2008
Trays 6-7: Cesar Chavez and United Farm Workers Buttons
1962-1979, 1989
Trays 8-16: Vietnam War Resistance, Vietnam War Support, Draft Resistance, and Peace Promotion Buttons
1960-1979
Display Trays 17-18: Counterculture Buttons
1960-1979
Series II: Newspapers,
Bulk, 1962-1964
1957-1968
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description
1 Box
Scope and Content of Collection
This small collection of newspapers consist of the San Jose State University student newspaper, the Spartan Daily, from 1962-1964,
as well as a commemorative publication from the San Jose Mercury News celebrating San Jose State University’s 150th anniversary
in 1957. A copy of the 1963 Chicago Daily News highlighting the civil rights march on Washington, D.C. where Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, and a Chicago Sun-Times insert dedicated to the life and accomplishments of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. published in 1968 after he was assassinated, is also represented.
Arrangement
This series is arranged by publication and chronologically within the publication.
Folder 1: San José Mercury News,
1957
Folder 2: Spartan Daily,
1962-1964
Folder 3: Chicago Publications,
1963-1968
