Friday, October 17, 2008

This small metal box is full of buttons of all shapes and sizes that are from Mason’s Dry Cleaners that was owned by Elmer Smith Jr. in Cedar Rapids. These buttons, and the box they are housed in, were painstakingly cleaned by one of our volunteers, Diana Henry. She sorted the buttons by material and worked with Gary Frost to determine the best method of cleaning for each. This is among the items that will be returned to the African American Museum on Feb. 3, 2009.