Preservation Hall Button: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This button is from the Willie Humphrey Preservation Hall show in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1984. It is a made of red paper with black ink covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a pin back. Willie Humphrey would hand out these buttons at moments when as he danced during the show. The button is printed:

William James Humphrey (1900-1994), born in a family of musicians, was a New Orleans jazz clarinetist. Humphrey performed with several New Orleans groups including the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Excelsior Brass Band.

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

• date made: 1984
• user: Levin, Floyd
• Object Name: button
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 1/4 in x 1 1/2 in; x .635 cm x 3.81 cm
• Measurements: overall: 3/8 in x 1 1/2 in; .9525 cm x 3.81 cm
• place made: United States: Louisiana, New Orleans
• ID Number: 2011.3086.024
• nonaccession number: 2011.3086
• catalog number: 2011.3086.024
• 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.