Pinback Button, "Advisory Councils Yes!"

ca. 1973

In bold red-and-black lettering, this pinback button urged Washington, DC voters to support the creation of Advisory Neighborhood Councils (now Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, or ANCs), following the District of Columbia Home Rule Act passed by Congress in 1973. This new form of government subdivided the city’s eight wards into smaller units, some only a few city blocks. Each ANC still consists of elected representatives who live locally, listen to their neighbors, and advocate for their needs. Perceived as a radical experiment in urban self-government, the system was modelled on a mode of community organizing already operating in the city’s Adams Morgan neighborhood.