The Political Buttons at HKS Collection features over 7,500 buttons representing US political history from the late 1800s through today. It includes buttons from candidates running for all levels of public office and from grassroots movements spanning the political spectrum, offering a rich and tangible exploration of democratic engagement over the past two centuries.
Explore the Collection
HOLLIS Images
Browse and filter the full collection
CURIOSity
Explore curated selections in Harvard Library's digital collections platform.
Digital Exhibits & Tools
Color Analysis Tool
Explore an innovative, custom-developed digital tool that extracts, analyzes, and visualizes the colors of buttons in the collection.
Developed by Tracy Stuber in Harvard Arts & Humanities Research Computing.
Presidential Campaigns
Explore the last 80 years of US presidential elections through campaign buttons from Democrats, Republicans, and third-party candidates, plus book recommendations.
Decades of Resistance
The US has a rich history of political activism, long represented through buttons. The buttons in this exhibit highlight social issues from the 1960s through today.
About the Collection
HKS Library & Research Services established the Political Buttons at HKS Collection in 2012 when local philanthropist and accomplished nonprofit administrator Steven M. Rothstein donated his family’s personal button collection to the School. Mr. Rothstein led Citizen Schools and the Perkins School for the Blind before becoming the Executive Director of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
Today, the collection continues to grow through private donations and outreach to the campaign teams of every candidate running for US presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial office. Our contemporary candidate buttons encompass all political parties and levels of office.
We hope educators will use the collection to make US political history more tangible. We also hope researchers will use the collection to enhance scholarship on US politics, elections, and social movements.
We welcome interest in button donations, but will not accept donations unsolicited. Contact HKS Library & Research Services with interest.
Learn More in the Harvard Gazette
Read “Pinning Their Hopes on Buttons” by Stephanie Mitchell