Button, Organizational
Object number2017.97.10
Manufacturer
Askew and Associates
MediumPlastic; Paper; Ink; Metal
Credit LineGIft of the Graphic Communications Conference-International Brotherhood of Teamster's Local 24M
DescriptionPlastic front has white background with red, blue, and white details and text including a blue checkmark in the viewer's bottom right corner, a blue union label at the bottom, and an American flag superimposed with two hands shaking. Plastic front clamps around reverse's white paper backer which has a chrome metal pinback across top center. DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 2.063 x 2.063 x 0.313 in. (5.2 x 5.2 x 0.8 cm)InscriptionsFront has red and blue text: "AMERICA WORKS BEST / WHEN WE SAY... / UNION / YES"; the "O" in "UNION" has white text around the perimeter "AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR / CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS" and on the shaking hands "AFL CIO".
MarksReverse has printed blue text at top "ASKEW & ASSOC. (301) 598-5802".
Front has union label at bottom that is illegible.
Historical NotesPart of a collection from Local 24 of the Graphic Communications Conference-International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The national union descends from the National Typographical Union which formed in 1852 and became the International Typographic Union in 1869. The union splintered in the late 1890s/early 1900s into several unions representing pressmen, bookbinders, stereotypers/electrotypers, lithographers, and platemakers, before slowly merging back together over the years. In 1983, the Graphic Communications International Union formed from the merging of the Int. Printing and Graphics Communication Union and the Graphic Arts International Union. Finally in 2005, the GCC union merged with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to create the present-day organization. Local 24 started in the early 1900s as a group of Lithographers in the Pittsburgh area. In 2016, they downsized their offices and moved from Uptown to Three Mile Run, and in the process, donated their records and this collection of artifacts. Most of the material donated was made by the union such as buttons, posters, stickers, flat product sheets, and two printing sheets that show the change in printing technology from raised letters to flat sheets.
Related institution
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
Terms
On View
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