A campaign to establish a federal holiday in honor of Martin Luther King (1929-1968) started shortly after his assassination. The effort was led by labor unions and bolstered by a petition signed by six million people. Signed into law in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan, it was designated a "floating holiday" to be observed on a Monday close to the 15th of January, King's actual birthday.

This button reflects a campaign effort urging Puerto Ricans to register and vote.

World-famous syndicated cartoonist and author Jules Feiffer (b. 1929) won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for his political cartoons in the Village Voice. This button most likely refers to the Prisoners of War from the Vietnam War.

In 1969, the novelist Normal Mailer (1923-2007) attempted to win the Democratic Party nomination for mayor of New York City. Along with the columnist Jimmy Breslin, running for City Council President, he advocated the secession of New York City and hte creation of a 51st state. Although Mailer came in fourth in a field of five, many considered his candidacy and position to be serious and thoughtful.

The Labor Youth Leauge (LYL) was founded in 1949. It was a left-wing political organization with ideological ties with the Communist Party. Although the League attempted to gain adherents among the working class, its strength was largely on college campuses.

John Marshall Junior High School, JHS 210, is in the East New York section of Brooklyn, near Eastern Parkway. In 1941 the area was largely Jewish.

Phoenix House, founded in 1972, is an independent non-profit organization providing alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs. The donor remembers wearing this button in the early 1980s.

The National Liberation Front was the political arm of the Vietcong, the South Vietnamese insurgent group which fought against the government of South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War. The pictured flag was adopted by the NLF in 1960. Buttons similar to this were worn by Americans opposed to that War.

In 1961 the City University of New York was founded by merging the city's existing five senior and two community colleges. Since the 1970s, the University has had to fight to maintain an adequate budget. This button was probably issued during one of those battles.

Despite virulent attacks that a national health insurance program was akin to "socialized medicine," President Harry S. Truman made a single comprehensive national health care program a key point in his 1947-48 presidential campaign.