Badge, Membership
Object number2007.81.1
Manufacturer
Bastian Brothers Company
Date1924
OriginRochester, NY
MediumSilk; Brass; Plastic; Ink; Paint
Credit LineGift of United Lutheran Society
DescriptionFraternal badge. Half-oval banner at top with rectangular badge. Text embossed on banner. Inside badge, beige plastic with black ink. Red, white, and blue ribbon attached to bottom of badge. Oval brass medallion attached to end. Medallion embossed with images, three letters on cross with an eagle above colored flags. Striped horizontally white, light blue, and red (Russian?) and of American flag.DimensionsLength x Width: 3.75 × 2 in. (9.5 × 5.1 cm)InscriptionsEmbossed on banner, "PITTS BURGH / SLAVONIC EVANGELICAL / UNION CONVENTION / OCT. 1924".
Inside badge, beige plastic with black ink, "KONVENCIONALNY VYBOR. [accent over A and Y]".
"S E J" on cross with an eagle above colored flags.
MarksStamps: on banner, "BASTIAN ROSCOà[rest of stamp behind pin]; [top half of shield]"...on medallion, "BASTION ROSCO / ROCHESTER N.Y." with shield in center, "MRB / PàB".
Historical NotesThe Slovak Evangelical Union held their fourteenth meeting in Pittsburgh in October of 1924, when this ribbon was most likely used. It was the third time the city hosted the organization. This ribbon is from a collection of seven convention ribbons, a button, pin, and felt patch collected to document the work of the locally-based United Lutheran Society, a fraternal benefit society that provided financial aid, life insurance, and social activities to its predominantly Slovak immigrant membership. The ULS was formed in 1962 by the merger of two long-running ethnic fraternal groups- the Evangelical Slovak Women’s Union (organized c. 1906) and the Slovak Evangelical Union (organized 1893.) Currently headquartered in Ligonier, the ULS main office was previously in Pittsburgh, in Manchester (North Side) and later the South Hills. Faced with years of declining membership, the ULS merged into the Pittsburgh-based Greater Beneficial Union in 2007. (The GBU, organized here in 1892, is a historically German beneficial group.)
Previous owner
United Lutheran Society
Related institution
Slovak Evangelical Union
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