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
- The Everglades is an extensive subtropical marshland in southern Florida. Marjory Stoneman Douglas, author of the 1947 book The Everglades: River of Grass, was influential in educating the public on the importance of this unique ecological area. The Everglades is still one of the nation’s biggest environmental battlegrounds as a result of ongoing fights over water use and distribution. Over 50% of its original area has been lost to agriculture and development.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0840
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0840
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Environmental Button
- Description
- The slogan on this button refers to a campaign by the environmental group the Sierra Club to promote and preserve the wilderness areas of Utah. It dates from the early 1990s. Wilderness protection was a touchstone issue among some environmental groups, and is still relevant despite the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- early 1990s
- ID Number
- 1999.0248.26
- catalog number
- 1999.0248.26
- accession number
- 1999.0248
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Environmental Button
- Description
- Like the preservation of wilderness areas, the protection of rural landscapes–including family farms–has been an important element of the environmental movement. The American Farmland Trust, an organization founded in 1980, produced this button.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- after 1980
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.1174
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.1174
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- 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
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- April 21, 1988 was designated John Muir day by president Ronald Reagan. The event celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the birth of the native Scotsman, who relocated to California and became America’s most well known naturalist. Amongst other achievements, Muir was an early proponent for the establishment of the National Park Service and founder of the preservation group, the Sierra Club. Muir died in 1914.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0865
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0865
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- The image of the Earth on this button, produced by the Sierra Club in the 1980s, makes it clear the slogan refers to our planet. It’s a play on the late 1960s/early 1970s rant against the protesters of the Vietnam War–stop complaining about America and either love it or leave it.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1980s
- maker
- Sierra Club
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.1243
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.1243
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
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
-
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
- The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970. The occasion was first conceived by Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, as a national day of observance for environmental problems. Millions of people participated in events across the country, while thousands of schools held special educational sessions, all dealing with environmental concerns. Earth Day has since become an annual event, celebrated worldwide.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.1175
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.1175
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- The Sierra Club, an American environmental organization headquartered in San Francisco, developed a reputation in the 1960s as an aggressive defender of wild lands. Its activist approach has continued, and its areas of concern have expanded. The organization was founded in 1892 by John Muir, a Scottish American naturalist and essayist.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- early 1990s
- ID Number
- 1999.0248.68
- catalog number
- 1999.0248.68
- accession number
- 1999.0248
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Environmental Button
- Description
- The button featured here was likely produced for Arbor Day, a holiday observed in the United States on the last Friday in April. Arbor Day, started by J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska in 1872, encourages folks to plant and care for trees.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.1066
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.1066
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- 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
- The slogan on this button can be taken two ways. It can be a warning that if we don’t recycle the millions of tons of trash we produce, we’ll be buried under it eventually. Or it can be taken as a tongue-in-cheek threat by the wearer, who’ll kill you if you don’t recycle. Either way it tells us where the wearer stands on the issue and invites comments.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0282
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0282
- 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
- This button declares, with a humorous slant, the wearer’s interest in preserving wilderness areas.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0870
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0870
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- This popular button protests the use of nuclear power as an energy source.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0452
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0452
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- This button urges people to find alternatives to driving, such as using public transportation, riding bicycles, or walking.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0060
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0060
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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