Jazz Interactions Inc. Button: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This button is from Jazz Interactions, Inc. in New York. It is made of paper with a black background and white printing covered with a clear film, on a two-piece metal button with a pin back. The button is printed:

Jazz Interactions, Inc. was founded in the early 1960s. It is a non-profit organization whose focus is “to stimulate a greater awareness of jazz by providing jazz information and educational services to New York metropolitan area.” Jazz Interactions was the original administrator of the Jazz Oral History Project 1971-1984, which is now included in the Institute of Jazz Studies in the John Cotton Library of Rutgers University.

Floyd Levin (1922-2007) was a Los Angeles textile manufacturer who turned his passion for jazz into a second career as an influential jazz journalist and historian. His numerous reviews, profiles, and articles were published in magazines such as Down Beat, Jazz Journal International, Metronome, and American Rag. He also authored Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. Items in this collection (2011.3086) were acquired from Levin’s attendance at Jazz Festivals, conferences, and other music events.

Materials, dates and provenance

• user: Levin, Floyd
• Object Name: button
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 1 3/8 in; x 3.4925 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York
• ID Number: 2011.3086.160
• nonaccession number: 2011.3086
• catalog number: 2011.3086.160
• Credit Line: Gift of Lucille Levin
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.