A button case on display at the Baker Public Policy Institute. (Photo provided by Gustavo Laskoski)
Julius “Decey” Dasenberg’s love affair with political campaign buttons flared in 1960 on the busy streets of New York. Fresh off a two-year stint as a naval officer, Dasenberg embarked on a 43-year journey at Merrill Lynch, where he eventually became president. The company’s first vice president in charge of investments. At this pivotal time in his life, a chance encounter – someone casually pinning his mayoral election button to his chest – ignited a fascination that would spark an incredible passion for collecting that would span the next 60 years. It developed.
“He stole them because he collected buttons,” said Deacy’s wife, Carol Desenberg. “Dessay thought it was a fun pastime. Once he started, he just kept collecting more and more. Everywhere he went, we both looked for interesting political buttons that we could add. .”
Carol Desenberg and Julius “Desay” Desenberg.
The “bug” eventually became a collection of more than 1,200 political campaign buttons that the Dasenbergs had amassed over the past half-century. Some are witty, others are quite frank, they come from a variety of political parties, and they’re comprehensive, with messages dating back to the mid-1800s. up to now.
In July 2022, Dessay passed away after a year-long battle with esophageal cancer.
“One of his final wishes was to find the perfect institution to donate this vast collection of campaign buttons and enjoy them for years to come,” Carroll said. “Mr. Dacey’s hope was that future generations would be able to learn about the history of past campaigns and enjoy the American political election process.”
Desey met with several institutions in Houston before finding the right one: Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
“He was overjoyed about the future of his collection,” Carroll said. “Honestly, I think this culmination of wishes was one of his last thoughts.”
“This important addition to the Baker Institute will serve as a constant reminder of the role politics plays in our great country and of Americans’ enthusiasm for it,” said Baker Institute Fellow and Rice University professor. said Mark Jones, Joseph D. Jamail Professor. in Latin American Studies. “These buttons are a concise look back at America’s history and the people who shaped it, and represent the largest public collection of presidential election buttons in the nation.”
A selection of the buttons are now encased in the front of Baker Hall at the Baker Institute, where everyone entering the building can see them upon entry.
A reception was held on October 14th to unveil new exhibits that will remain at the Baker Institute. The remaining buttons are available for research at the Fondren Library’s Woodson Research Center.
“The Dasenberg family is forever grateful to the Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Woodson Research Center for preserving this collection for everyone to enjoy,” Carroll said.
Fondren Fellow
The gift also inspired the launch of a project within the Fondren Library through the Fondren Fellows Program.
Nathaniel Knocken, a junior political science major, took on the task of cataloging the collection, developing it into exhibits, and including it in Fondren’s holdings and digital archives, with help from Jones.
“Our project is to catalog this and preserve it for the next generation and really bridge the gap between what seems like a long time ago that wasn’t actually all that long ago,” Nokken said. . “We’re trying to bring these into the modern day, bring them into the spotlight, and make sure these people, these campaigns, these elections aren’t forgotten.”
The process was “a little daunting at first,” Nokken said. However, they developed separate codes for each button to help with button ordering and identification.
Along the way, Nokken said he studied the iconography and message of each button.
“We’re looking at how political messaging has changed, especially since the early 1900s,” he said. “At the time, it was really as simple as a photo and a name, but as the ’60s with John F. Kennedy and the ’90s with Bush and Clinton progressed, it went from something very simple to something very unique. Each candidate now has a very clearly defined style.
Nokken said the timing of the donation was ideal, with the US presidential election coming up in November.
“It’s become a great way to observe American elections,” he said. “This is my first time voting in a presidential election, so it was very interesting.”
