Usher badge from New Bethany Baptist Church: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a faux gold usher badge was worn by Ruby Penn, a onetime member on the usher board at New Bethany Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. The badge is comprised of two major sections - a horizontal bar from which a round pendant hangs suspended from two chains. The top section has a pin back on its reverse; the obverse is a white rectangle of plastic framed by an ornate faux gold foliage pattern of gold tinted metal. The white rectangle contains a line of capitalized black text which reads: [MEMBER]. This top section is then attached to the circular pendant by two chains hanging from either end of the horizontal bar. The pendant is also white plastic with lines of capitalized black text which read: [SR. USHER BOARD / NEW BETHANY / BAPTIST CHURCH / WASH. D. C.]. The pendant is also bordered by the faux gold foliage border. On the reverse, there is aluminum backing visible, indicating that the white plastic element is actually separate and being held in place by the adorned border.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: mid-20th century
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Subject of: New Bethany Baptist Church, American, founded 1935
• Used by: Ruby Penn, American
• Type: badges
• Medium: metal, aluminium, plastic
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 3 5/8 × 2 5/16 × 5/16 in. (9.2 × 5.9 × 0.8 cm)
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Baptist
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Local and regional
• Topic: Religion
• Topic: The Black Church
• Object number: 2015.146
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of New Bethany Baptist Church
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.