"E.R.A. Yes!" button owned by Jean Stapleton
notes: label: Description
content: Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) button owned by Jean Stapleton. The green button is printed with white text reading "E.R.A. Yes!" Stapleton was an advocate for the failed constitutional amendment guaranteeing legal equality for all Americans regardless of sex. The United States Congress approved the amendment in 1972, but it failed to garner support from the requisite three quarters of state legislatures before its ratification deadline.<p>
label: Description
content: Jean Stapleton was an actress and activist best known for portraying Edith Bunker on the television program <i>All in the Family</i>. Stapleton was born on January 19, 1923 in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of a salesman and an opera singer. She attended Hunter College and performed in summer stock theater before making her Broadway debut in the 1953 production of <i>In the Summerhouse</i>. In a career that lasted five decades, Stapleton appeared in numerous Broadway productions including <i>Damn Yankees</i>, <i>Bells Are Ringing</i>, and <i>Funny Girl</i>, as well as a variety of television and film productions. In 1971, Stapleton was cast as the Edith Bunker in Norman Lear’s sitcom <i>All in the Family</i>. Her portrayal of the sweet yet naïve wife of the bigoted Archie Bunker earned her three Primetime Emmys, two Golden Globes, and induction into the Television Hall of Fame. <p>
label: Description
content: In addition her decades-long acting career, Stapleton was an outspoken feminist and social activist. Stapleton died of natural causes on May 31, 2013 in New York City.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2017.0150.28
label: accession number
content: 2017.0150
label: catalog number
content: 2017.0150.28
objectType: label: Object Name
content: button
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 11/16 in; 4.318 cm