Images(3)

Button, Campaign

Object number2024.10.7

Date2000

MediumMetal; Plastic; Paper; Ink

Credit LineGift of Joyce Bender

DescriptionCircular campaign pinback button. Front has blue paper background with white and red campaign message decorated with a white shooting star with red tail; white union label on bottom edge at center. Button has clear plastic cover. Semi-shiny textured silver metal backer with horizontal pinback across top center.DimensionsDiameter x Depth: 2.188 x 0.313 in. (5.6 x 0.8 cm)
InscriptionsFront has white and red printed text "Individuals with Disabilities / for / Gore / 2000 / Lieberman".
MarksWhite printed union label along bottom edge at center "UNION MADE / IUAN & PW / AFL-CIO".
Historical NotesDisability advocacy campaign button. New Galilee, Pennsylvania native Joyce Bender worked as an IT recruiter in Pittsburgh in the 1980s. A request to train students with disabilities in resume writing and interviewing at the Community College of Allegheny County’s Institute of Handicapped Children led to a pivot in her career. Joyce realized that people with disabilities were underemployed and not utilizing their skills and degrees. She started Bender Consulting which focused on finding competitive employment for people with disabilities in the IT sector. As an adult, Bender was diagnosed with epilepsy and lost hearing in her right ear as a result of fall related to a seizure. Through Bender’s advocacy, CCAC rebranded this program as the Institute of Advanced Technology. She became known for her saying, “People with disabilities need paychecks not pity.”

Previous owner Joyce Cilitti Bender

Related institution Bender Consulting Services, Inc.

Related person Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born 1948)

Related person Joseph Isadore Lieberman (1942 - 2024)

Subjects