Natural Resources
The natural resources collections offer centuries of evidence about how Americans have used the bounty of the American continent and coastal waters. Artifacts related to flood control, dam construction, and irrigation illustrate the nation's attempts to manage the natural world. Oil-drilling, iron-mining, and steel-making artifacts show the connection between natural resources and industrial strength.
Forestry is represented by saws, axes, a smokejumper's suit, and many other objects. Hooks, nets, and other gear from New England fisheries of the late 1800s are among the fishing artifacts, as well as more recent acquisitions from the Pacific Northwest and Chesapeake Bay. Whaling artifacts include harpoons, lances, scrimshaw etchings in whalebone, and several paintings of a whaler's work at sea. The modern environmental movement has contributed buttons and other protest artifacts on issues from scenic rivers to biodiversity.
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Environmental Button
- Description
- The National Association of Audubon Societies was founded in 1905 to protect birds whose populations were being decimated by hunters for the plume (feather) trade. The organization was named after John James Audubon, a 19th century naturalist and artist who produced the book series Birds of America, published between 1827 and 1838. In 1940 the Association changed its name to the National Audubon Society, and since that time it has become engaged with a broad array of environmental concerns.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0143
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0143
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Environmental Button
- Description
- Few episodes in United States history helped forge today’s culture of environmental awareness more than a controversial proposal to build dams within Grand Canyon National Park.
- The Grand Canyon’s unique beauty and immense scale have impressed generations of Americans, making the Northern Arizona landmark one of the nation’s most symbolically rich natural landscapes.
- The Canyon is formed by the Colorado River, a water system running from the Rocky Mountains into the Gulf of California. The Colorado is one of the largest sources of fresh water and hydro-electric power available to arid portions of the western United States. The river’s resources have been taxed by ever-increasing populations. Dams had already been built on much of the Colorado when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation proposed erecting new dams within the Grand Canyon in the mid 1960s. The dams were proposed despite the Grand Canyon’s designation as a federally protected National Park (1919.)
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Big Ed's Buttons
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0522
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0522
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Environmental Button
- Description
- Canadian activists opposed to nuclear testing in Alaska founded Greenpeace in 1971. The international organization has since turned its attention to a variety of environmental concerns, such as whaling, bottom trawling, global warming, nuclear power, and genetic engineering.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.1156
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.1156
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Environmental Button
- Description
- David Hill founded the Rare Animal Relief Effort (RARE), in 1973. RARE is well known for its “Save the Whales” campaigns and has helped to protect other at risk animal populations such as manatees and Saint Lucia parrots.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0968
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0968
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- The universal symbol for recycling is shown on this button. The symbol, a mobius loop formed by three arrows, was designed as part of a contest in 1970 by University of Southern California student Gary Anderson.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Badge-A-Minit
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0273
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0273
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- Button with a light blue background with dark blue printing. Features the image of a cresting wave and the phrase "STOP OCEAN DUMPING". Rim of the button reads: Donnelly/Colt Buttons
- The world’s oceans have been used by industry and governments for many years as a convenient sink for dumping waste products, including radioactive materials and other hazardous substances. Efforts to curb that practice intensified in the 1970s when international conventions attempted to tightly control or ban it outright.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Donnelly/Colt
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.1118
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.1118
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- This button makes use of a dramatic image taken from space to remind people of the fragility and uniqueness of Earth.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1989
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.1229
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.1229
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Environmental Button
- Description
- Water is one of our most precious natural resources. Having a ready supply of water for drinking and irrigation is of paramount concern to society. Water conservation is a great concern to those living in arid regions of the western United States, such as Nevada, where this button was produced.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0571
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0571
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- Some environmental campaigns sought to change the behavior of government agencies. As the world’s largest public engineering, design, and construction agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers attracted broad-based criticism in the 1960s and thereafter for its aggressive program of dams and channel building. River advocates in particular were urged to “Keep Busy Fighting the Corps.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Rivercity Art
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0636
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0636
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- The California condor decreased in population steadily throughout the 20th century. In 1985 there were believed to be less than two dozen birds left in the wild. That year, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service embarked upon a controversial program to collect the remaining California condors and breed them in captivity. Due to the success of the program, the condor population now reaches over 240 birds, with over 100 released into areas of California, Arizona and Baja, Mexico.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Badge-A-Minit
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0910
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0910
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- Growing food organically is seen as “earth friendly” as it eschews the use of pesticides and antibiotics and employs water conserving agricultural methods.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Badge-A-Minit
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.1133
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.1133
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- This button was produced by Horn Badge Co. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the tenth anniversary of Earth Day.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1980
- maker
- Horn Co.
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.1178
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.1178
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- The group "Bike for a Better City" encouraged New York commuters and lawmakers to view bicycling as a means for everyday transportation. The organization, founded in 1970 by Barry Fishman and Harriet Green, called for the establishment of special bike lanes to make city biking safer.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Fishman, Barry
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0051
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0051
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- The Healthy Harvest Society is a clearinghouse for information about organizations, groups, and individuals in the fields of sustainable agriculture and horticulture. It publishes a yearly directory and a geographical index of resources. The Society produced this button for the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, held in 1990.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1990
- maker
- Adspecs Inc.
- ID Number
- 1992.3134.043
- catalog number
- 1992.3134.043
- nonaccession number
- 1992.3134
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- On March 24, 1989 the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, off the coast of Alaska. Almost 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the sea, the largest oil spill in United States history. The resulting oil slick contaminated 1,300 miles of coastline and killed over 200,000 sea birds and sea mammals such as otters, seals, and killer whales. The clean-up cost over 2.2 billion dollars.
- Environmental disasters are often used to galvanize public support for reform; the Exxon Valdez accident is a perfect example. This button was produced to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the event.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Badge-A-Minit
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0831
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0831
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- “Friends of the Earth,” an organization promoting global conservation, was founded in 1969 by David Brower (1914-2000). He created the group after leaving the Sierra Club, for which he served as Executive Director from 1952 to 1969. Brower, who had a long career as an activist, is considered one of the nation’s most important naturalists.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0930
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0930
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- This button was likely produced in reaction to an oil embargo that occurred in 1973-1974. The embargo caused gas shortages, leading to higher prices and gas rationing, and resulted in long lines at the gas pumps. This button suggests one possible response to the embargo.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Badge-A-Minit
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0013
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0013
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- Produced by the group Zero Population Growth, this button highlights anxiety created by the continued growth of the world’s population, first remarked upon by Englishman Thomas Malthus in his 1798 work, An Essay on the Principle of Population. Paul R. Ehrlich’s bestselling book The Population Bomb, published in 1968, renewed interest in the topic by raising concerns about the potential risks of overpopulation.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Zero Population Growth
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0137
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0137
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description (Brief)
- Several types of renewable energy sources are available as alternatives to non-renewable, carbon-based fuels. This button advocates the use of solar energy to generate electricity. It was distributed in 1978 by Solar Action, the Washington, D.C.-based organization that helped to organize Sun Day (3 May 1978.) For many people, the 1970s energy crisis was a call to action to change how electricity was generated and used. Making the choice to “go solar”—and encouraging others to do the same—reflected growing optimism about the potential of clean, accessible solar energy.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1978
- maker
- Edward Horn Co.
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0400
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0400
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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