Pinback Button, "The Platform"

ca. 1976

This pinback button sports a quotation from President Harry Truman that reemerged decades later as major political parties developed their platforms for the 1976 and 1980 presidential campaigns. The white-and-blue button belonged to journalist Ethel L. Payne (1911-1991), who collected political memorabilia. A Chicago native, Payne moved to the nation’s capital in 1952 to cover national and international news for the preeminent African American newspaper, The Chicago Defender. The lifelong civil rights activist reported from thirty countries, becoming known as the First Lady of the Black Press.