Art & Artifacts Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Badge |
Collection |
Alfred E. Steers collection |
Object ID |
M1985.15.92 |
Date |
1912 |
Dimension Details |
3 3/8" H x 1 3/4" W x 3/8" D |
Description |
Ribbon badge with medal suspended from American flag ribbon and secured to rectangular metal pin-back; bronze medal depicts image of woman extending a laurel wreath crown in one hand and holding a flag in the other, eagle with wings spread at woman's feet; inscription on medal: 'A SAFE AND SANE / FOURTH / OF JULY / 1912'. |
Place Names |
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) |
Subject Headings |
Fourth of July celebrations Ribbon badges |
Personal and Corporate Names |
Steers, Alfred E., 1860-1948 |
Collection Finding Aid |
Alfred E. Steers collection (ARC.009) |
Curatorial Notes |
Donated to BHS by his descendants, this ceremonial ribbon once belonged to Brooklynite Alfred E. Steers (1860-1948). Together, his collection of mementos, medals, and ribbons document both Steers' official municipal activities and his involvement in important local civic organizations. Steers lived at a critical transitional moment in Brooklyn's history, when the independent city was giving way to the borough. Born into a grocer family in the town of Flatbush (today a neighborhood of Brooklyn), Steers quickly rose to prominence in local government. Appointed first a justice of the peace in Flatbush, in the 1890s Steers became city magistrate and in 1910, Brooklyn Borough President. As Borough President from 1910 to 1913, Steers was a constant ceremonial presence at local celebrations and events. He attended every one of New York City's annual Fourth of July celebrations during his tenure, a period when Progressive social reformers were increasingly petitioning for an end to dangerous unsupervised fireworks and explosives during the holiday. Many of Steers' medals are marked "A Safe and Sane Fourth of July," an early twentieth-century slogan adopted by those who hoped to turn the focus of the holiday from fireworks to families and picnicking. |