These are political buttons from the 1980s and late 1990s that belonged to Lillian Rose Witz Lipson, Chicago-based activist who attended UChicago in the 1930s [1]. The significance of Lipson’s buttons lie in how they act as passive tools of protest, which in turn earned community praise for women who approach politics in a maternal, conservative manner.

Through her activist work, she contributed to over 70 organizations including her work with Women Strike for Peace (WSP) in Chicago [1]. WSP’s mission showed Lipson’s own values of networking, which she valued. Most women in WSP were white, middle class, and housewives. The organization was a way channel their role as mothers into larger political change [3]. Their main goal was to ban nuclear testing. WSP was known for being open to all women, regardless of their political history [4].

Lipson was a member of WSP because her gender was important to her politics. She used her motherly role to prove a sense of right and wrong. WSP’s mission was based on women’s concern for public health and safety [5]. It used the motherly position that each woman held in her home in order to establish a greater network of social consciousness. For WSP, the method of their organizing never sought to disrupt the conventional gender roles. They often asserted that they stand in support of President John F. Kennedy’s decisions [6]. They did not intent to challenge the power of their husbands.

These buttons show that these women used their social standing to perform a political role. The buttons made it impossible to separate a political stance from the person who wore it. Therefore, political causes were linked to personality traits – in this case, a loving mother and wife who we are taught to rely upon. This comes across in the obituaries written about Lipson and in an essay she wrote. She believed that equality and peace came from having good morals. In her essay, she asserts that “The moral dimension in the nuclear debate should take precedence over all” and quotes Pope John XXIII’s call to recognize one another’s “essential humanity” [7].

The buttons come from a long history of WSP wearing buttons as a form of protest. They would be worn on the lapel and were sold to the public for a few cents. Members claimed it was an effort to shape public opinion rather than target the decisions made by the government. However, buttons do not actively engage the viewer. Instead they represent political affiliations of the wearer. The people who saw these buttons more often were probably people within WSP’s circles. Only those people who would get close enough to the blazers of the women who wore these buttons.

The style of each button reflects Lipson’s and WSP’s desire for a diverse network of activism [8]. This is visible in the use of dark and light colors. This is visible in “No Neutronbomb” (figure1), which is a Chicago-based protest of nuclear weaponry. And in “Free South Africa” (figure 2)which is a Keith Haring design that was originally released as a poster series in 1985. Both buttons have cartoon drawings of human bodies where race is shown through the use of black shading to hint at the involvement of Black people. The use of color within the majority white social circles of WSP implies that WSP is the moral authority of all peoples. Meanwhile, the full motto of “Stop the Arms Race, not the human race” (figure 3), the original motto of WSP, ignores race while playing with these same dynamics of color.

WSP and women like Lipson are remembered fondly because they were both motherly and political at the same time. In an obituary of Lipson from a Chicago magazine, she is praised for her selflessness and devotion. Although WSP’s demands were often not met, the personable and socially-palatable methods of protest follow their legacy as much as the political results of their work.

1. Special Collections. Introduction. Lillian Rose Witz Lipson. 2020, page 2
2. Swerdlow, Amy. Women Strike for Peace: Traditional Motherhood and Radical Politics in the 1960s. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. Page 2
3. Ibid, 2-3
4. Ibid, 15
5. Ibid, 16
6. Ibid, 22
7. Special Collections. Personal essay. Lillian Rose Witz Lipson. 2020, page 8
8. Special Collections. Unnamed newspaper. Lillian Rose Witz Lipson. 2020, page 4