Fasten-ating Archaeology:

Researching the MNHS Button Collection

Contrary to popular belief, archaeology is not all in the flashy, grandiose finds. In fact, the most mundane of objects can often hold great value and reveal pertinent information about a site and the people that lived there. I observed this very phenomenon this past semester as an intern with the Archaeology Department at the Minnesota Historical Society, a partner of the Heritage Studies & Public History (HSPH) graduate program. What began as a conversation to help digitize the department’s Euro-American Comparative Archaeology Collection, resulted in a deep dive into a material we all take for granted: the common button.

Brief Background
The search for my final internship of my graduate career at the University of Minnesota began this summer, during a time when college students across the country quickly realized another online semester awaited us. While everything seemed so uncertain, I wondered: how can I complete an internship that incorporates my interests from home? What sacrifices will I have to make considering the extenuating circumstances?

To ease some of my anxiety, I sought guidance from a past supervisor, Nancy Hoffman, an archaeology collections assistant at MNHS. To my relief, Nancy described a potential project that would incorporate my interests within archaeology and collections management from the safety of my home. Together, we came to an agreement: I would spend the semester providing research and documentation remotely, to prepare MNHS’ Euro-American Comparative Archaeology Collection for its move online. 

While the decision to take on this project was a no-brainer, it was not without its learning curves. In addition to learning the ins-and-outs of EMu, MNHS’ collections management system, Nancy and I quickly realized that researching and documenting each object in a collection of over a thousand is just too great a feat for a few months time. In hopes that I may still be able to produce a complete product, we decided that I would, instead, focus on preparing a single material for upload. Buttons, being well-represented within the collection, though not yet well documented in the digital sphere, the choice was evident. 

What I’ve Learned
So, you might be asking, what is there to learn from a button? I admit that the same thought crossed my mind once or twice. That being said, after having researched button production history in Minnesota, I can now see its potential to tell a story much larger than itself.

Shell Buttons
While bone buttons are a common find on Minnesotan sites as well, the history of shell button production hits close to home. In fact, in the late 1800s, the freshwater shell button industry exploded here in the United States, with shells from up and down the Mississippi River Basin, including a variety of MN waterways, collected for their production. “Saw works”, as they were called, popped up on no other than Lake Pepin, Pokegama Lake, Cross Lake, and Snake River, where “blanks” would be cut from the shells. Like bone, these shell negatives can be found at archaeological sites, and are a key indicator of button production.

In addition to the industry itself, however, the history of shell button production has the potential to tap into a much larger story. Many accounts from Iowa and Wisconsin, for instance, recount the dangerous conditions for factory workers, especially for the women who would wash and decorate the buttons down in Muscatine (the “capital” of the pearl button industry). Such conditions, paired with unfair wages, led to many union strikes as workers demanded better compensation and a safer work environment. Button production, then, is yet another facet into our State’s labor history, activism, and gendered experience, each of which are intricately tied to one another.

Conclusion
Though I have much more to learn about buttons in Minnesota, particularly those outside of the bone and shell varieties, now having an appreciation for what even the most everyday objects can lend to archaeological interpretation, I can only imagine what else I may discover. Through my internship, I hope researchers, professional and non-professional, experience a similar sense of inspiration and, by using the comparative collection, are able to identify buttons in their own collections to expand our understandings of our state’s history.

Laura Meier is a second year graduate student in the Master in Heritage Studies and Public History program at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, following the program’s archaeological heritage track. Her research interests include the ethics of collections management, and the intersections of accessibility and knowledge sovereignty in digital platforms.