River Museum's GivingTuesday Campaign aims to 'Button up' Care of Historic Pin Collection

River Museum's GivingTuesday Campaign aims to "Button up" Care of Historic Pin Collection

DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Dubuque County Historical Society and its flagship entity, the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, will take part in the global GivingTuesday movement on Dec. 1, 2026, raising money to protect and share some of the smallest artifacts in its collection: more than 400 historic button pins.

GivingTuesday is a global day of generosity held each year on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It shifts the focus of the season from holiday shopping to charitable giving, volunteering and community action, encouraging people around the world to make a positive impact on the causes they care about. The River Museum is calling on its supporters, members and guests to join the movement by making a donation online or onsite. Donations made between Nov. 25 - Dec. 4 will go toward the GivingTuesday campaign, supporting the museum's Historic Collection.

Despite their small size, button pins often serve as lasting reminders of significant moments and movements, celebrating occasions as brief as a local store opening and as transformative as the struggle for voting rights. Local, regional and national in scope, the collection spans the early 1900s to the present day, from novelty pins and advertisements to the slogans of politicians and causes.

"Button pins seem commonplace today, being as mass-produced and 'throw away' now as they've been since the 1890s. But that is exactly what makes our collection so unique," says Emma Sundberg, director of curatorial services.

The museum's goal is to raise $3,000 to preserve and share the collection. Donations made on GivingTuesday will go toward archival boxes and acid-free materials for safe storage; professional identification, photography and cataloging; and high-resolution uploads to an online catalog where images and information about each button will be searchable by the public. With community support, the button pin collection will be accessible, protected and ready to inspire future generations. Contributions of all sizes make an impact.

Although Giving Tuesday is a singular day of giving, to help "button up" the care of this collection, visit https://tinyurl.com/RiverMuseumGive from Nov. 25 through Dec. 4 make a tax-deductible donation.