“Fifth Ave. March 26 Mass Protest” Vietnam Peace Button
1966
Diameter: 1½ inches
 
Issued for the March 26, 1966 Vietnam Peace Parade and Rally in New York City, this button announces the mass demonstration organized by the Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee. The rally, held in Central Park before the march down Fifth Avenue, formed part of the International Days of Protest against the Vietnam War, with demonstrations taking place across the United States and abroad. Contemporary estimates placed the New York turnout in the tens of thousands, making it one of the largest antiwar demonstrations in the country to that date.
 
The March 26 demonstration marked an important expansion of the American antiwar movement. The Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee had first organized a major march in October 1965, but the scale of the March 1966 action established the committee as a continuing center of antiwar activity in New York. Its broad coalition brought together students, peace organizations, clergy, veterans, intellectuals, and political groups, reflecting the increasingly diverse opposition to the war.
 
Condition: Excellent.