Society for the Preservation of Dixieland Jazz Button: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This button is from the Society for the Preservation of Dixieland Jazz in Monrovia, California. It is a round button with a white background with red and black ink covered with a clear film, on a two-piece metal button with a pin back. The button is printed:

SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF [caricature of musician] DIXIELAND JAZZ INC.

The Society for the Preservation of Dixieland Jazz (SPDJ) was created to encourage, perpetuate, and preserve the appreciation of Dixieland Music, also know as New Orleans Jazz or Traditional Jazz. The society provides opportunities for musicians and audiences through regularly scheduled meetings, performances, and events. The SPDJ is one of the oldest running Dixieland jazz organizations in California.

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: 3 in; x 7.62 cm
• place made: United States: California, Monrovia
• ID Number: 2011.3086.182
• nonaccession number: 2011.3086
• catalog number: 2011.3086.182
• 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.