Who's Got the Button? Almost Everybody

Many people who are sympathetic toward the Negro civil rights drive are, for various reasons, reluctant to go to jail, sit in front of bulldozers, brandish placards, or even wear obtrusive lapel buttons. A gathering of such fastidious people met last June in the town house of Mrs. Louis S. Gimbel Jr., a New York social and philanthropic leader. Among the guests: Showman Billy Rose, Singer Lena Home, Broadway Producer Leonard Sillman. The purpose of the gathering was to talk about what celebrities could do to help the civil rights movement. All agreed that there was a need for some kind of civil rights emblem, perhaps a lapel button, that people of taste could wear to show their sympathies.

After trying for a while to think of some symbol that would be both restrained and striking, the group pounced eagerly upon an idea suggested by the hostess' son, S. Stinor Gimbel, 30, vice president in the family hops business. His idea: use the simple, familiar mathematical sign of equality. The result, stark white on black:

Mrs. Gimbel, at her own expense, ordered 5,000 buttons from a manufacturer, stirred interest among New Frontiersmen at a Washington luncheon a month ago by wearing several of the buttons on her white gloves, thus avoiding pinholes in her dress. President Kennedy and members of his Cabinet asked for buttons. Suddenly, the buttons are popping out all over. Algernon D. Black, chairman of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing, has ordered 4,000. The Council for United Civil Rights Leadership, which coordinates seven major civil rights groups, has adopted the button as its symbol. The council has ordered 50,000 buttons, is distributing them to member organizations for sale at $1 each (manufacturer's price: 2-c-) to help finance demonstrations and court actions. The $1 emblems are selling fast, proving that even among civil rights buttons, all are not equal.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.