Mourning Button

Name/Title

Mourning Button

Entry/Object ID

1997.519.1

Description

Small black button attached to black ribbon. The button is a black and white side profile of a middle-aged man in glasses and a suit looking to the viewer's left. The bottom edge of the ribbon is slightly frayed.

Item Type

Button

Context

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) was an academic and politician who served as the twenty-eighth President of the United States from 1913 to 1921. Born in Virginia, Wilson lived in Columbia, South Carolina from 1870 to 1874. He is best known for his economic reforms, the establishment of the League of Nations, leading the United States into World War I, and his role in securing the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in 1920. Wilson would have sought a third term, but his health was severely compromised by a stroke in 1919. He died five years later, cared for by his second wife, Edith Bolling Wilson (1872–1961). This pin was likely worn by an American citizen following Wilson's death.

Made/Created

Manufacturer

Philadelphia Badge Company

Date made

1924

Place

State/Province

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mark, Engraving or Stamp

Location

Backside

Transcription

Phila Badges Co. Buttons - Emblems Phila PA 942 Market Street

Material/Technique

Label

Dimensions

Width

1-5/8 in

Length

1-1/4 in

Material

Metal, Paper, Ribbon

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Woodrow Wilson