Earlier this year, the University of Idaho Special Collections and Archives received a materials transfer from Markie McBrayer and the Department of Politics and Philosophy. The collection arrived in 3 boxes and upon opening revealed itself to be hundreds and hundreds of buttons, primarily of the political campaign nature.

As Special Collections Staff began to organize, process, and catalog the buttons a variety of steps were taken. First, a decision had to be made on how to store them. It was not going to be possible to leave them how they were, in little plastic bags jumbled together where researchers would never be able to find the specific one they wanted. Instead, staff came up with the idea of removing them from their little plastic bags and using their sharp metal pin to attach them to sheets of archival foam. However, before they could be added to the foam, staff realized that the buttons should be organized in some way (to the best of their ability) to make them easier for researchers to view. After bit of debate, it was decided that attempting to place them in chronological order was the best course of action.

Thus began a multi-week project of sorting buttons and attaching them to sheets of Ethafoam. Once all the buttons were appropriately housed, then came the next daunting step: cataloging them. Staff recognized quickly that this collection could serve as a fun digital collection (coming soon), and one of the best ways to connect the finding aid for a collection to a digital collection was to process the collection at an item level. Typically, Special Collections processes collections at a folder or box level, meaning not every single document or piece of paper is added to the finding aid but rather items are often grouped together in folders with like materials to save on space and the time of Special Collections staff. For this project, staff decided to process this collection to the item level, meaning each individual button got its own line rather than grouping them together or just doing a line for each sheet within the box.

To do this was a major undertaking. One of the first steps for this item level was going to be finding a way to keep track of which number each button was assigned. An overhead photograph was taken of each sheet, and the sheet was titled with which box it was in and in what order it was in the box. After each sheet had its picture taken, staff printed off the photographs and began numbering the prints one by one. This numbering system was also added to digital copies of the overhead shots for easier reference by Special Collections staff.

By the end of the numbering process, it was determined that this collection contained a grand total of 1,910 buttons spread across 5 banker boxes and over 75 sheets of Ethafoam. This total does not count the 140+ duplicate buttons nor does it include the 18+ bumper stickers that came with the collection.

Most of these buttons are from presidential political campaigns, including the first political campaign in which political buttons were used (1896 William J. Bryan who was defeated by William McKinley) through the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore with Bush coming out on top. The buttons represent both main U. S. political parties (Democrat and Republican) as well as numerous Third Parties and their candidates.

It also includes buttons from various elections held in New York, California, and Idaho and advertisement buttons from Whitehead & Hoag. The buttons range in size from the size of a pinky fingernail to over 5” in diameter and some of them are of holographic or lenticular nature where they change from image to image depending on the angle at which you look at them.

The final finding aid for the collection can be found here: Political Buttons and Stickers collection. Please note that if you are interested in viewing this collection, an appointment will be required due to the fragility of the foam the buttons are on.

Currently, Special Collections staff are working on the digital collection for the buttons, with hopes that it will be completed before summer 2025.

Please contact the University of Idaho Special Collections and Archives with questions or inquiries regarding this collection.