Collection Detail


Don D. and Mildred A. Wright of Seattle, Washington, met at the 1956 Democratic Convention in Chicago, and were married the next year.  A large trove of Adlai paraphernalia from the Convention would form the nucleus of the magnificent collection of political items that they built over the next half-century, as Don’s hobby grew into a passion, fueled by his love of Presidential campaign history.   Don was one of the earliest members of the American Political Items Collectors, receiving Member Number 176 when he joined in 1960.  Although there was a natural tendency to collect memorabilia from the campaigns of admired progressives like FDR, Wilson and Bryan, Don strove to make the collection representative of the nation’s entire political history.  He acquired jugates of every campaign for which they existed, including the rare 7/8 1920 Cox-Roosevelt.   He collected items from all the major parties, and from third party candidates as well.  At the time of his death in 2007, the collection stood at nearly 10,000 distinct buttons and pins, and many hundreds of 3-D items, spanning the campaigns from George Washington to Barack Obama.

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