International Socialists Revolutionary Portrait Button Collection
Circa 1960s
19 buttons, each approximately 1 3/4 inches
 
A striking group of 19 political buttons issued by the International Socialists, featuring portraits of revolutionary, abolitionist, socialist and political figures paired with boldly stated slogans. Among those represented are Frederick Douglass—“Black Power,” Harriet Tubman—“Freedom Now,” Malcolm X—“Black Liberation,” Karl Marx—“Workers of the World Unite,” Rosa Luxemburg—“Bread and Roses,” Leon Trotsky—“Permanent Revolution,”and V. I. Lenin—“All Power to the Soviets.” The series also includes Karl Liebknecht, Jean-Paul Marat, Fred Engels and William Morris. 
 
Produced in the era of the New Left, the buttons demonstrate how historical revolutionary figures were reclaimed as symbols for contemporary political movements. Their vivid colors, graphic portraiture and concise slogans give the group the unmistakable visual language of radical political culture of the period. Offered together, the collection provides an unusually cohesive representation of the intersection of history, political ideology and protest culture in the era.
 
Condition: Excellent overall.