Firefighter's boot for MDA collection
Object Details
- Honeywell Inc.
- Description (Brief)
Fire fighter's boot, black rubber with yellow accents (band at the center, band along the bottom of the foot). Rough textile (wool) interior with two semi-circular pull straps at the top. White square at heel reads "10 MEN'S WIDE." Textured along bottom edge of the foot with heavy textured tread on bottom. Boot is covered with approximately eight circular stickers for the MDA campaign showing a young boy being carried by a fire fighter and the slogan "I HELPED FIRE FIGHTERS FIGHT MDA." There is also a card bent around the front of the shin and stuck on with stickers that shows the same image and reads "HELP FIRE FIGHTERS FIGHT MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY."
Throughout the 1900s, national fundraising efforts became annual traditions in communities throughout the United States. At street corners across the nation, the International Association of Fire Fighters’ Fill the Boot campaign has raised funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association since 1954.
- Description
- This firefighter’s boot is decorated with fundraising stickers for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. It was used by firefighters collecting donations for MDA in Fairfax County, Virginia.
- The Muscular Dystrophy Association began in Chicago, Illinois in 1950, established by Paul Cohen and a community of people affected by the condition. Today, MDA helps to fund research into neuromuscular disease and treatments, supports medical database development, works to connect medical experts in the field, and advocates for and empowers members of the neuromuscular disease community.
- The connection with firefighters developed a few years after MDA began. In 1954, members of Boston Firefighters Local 718 initiated a fundraising campaign for MDA, collecting donations in fire boots. This led to a partnership between MDA and the International Association of Fire Fighters that continues to the present day, with annual “Fill the Boot” campaigns across the country over Labor Day Weekend. As of 2024, the IAFF estimates its members have raised over 700 million dollars for MDA in the 70 years of their partnership.
- Credit Line
- Gift of Joel Kobersteen, Master Technician and IAFF Local 2068 coordinator for Fairfax County’s MDA campaign
- late 20th / early 21st century
- ID Number
- 2015.0334.01
- catalog number
- 2015.0334.01
- Object Name
- boot, firefighter's
- Physical Description
- rubber (overall material)
- paper (part: stickers / card material)
- wool (inside material)
- Measurements
- overall: 17 in x 5 in x 12 1/4 in; 43.18 cm x 12.7 cm x 31.115 cm
- place made
- United States
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Fire Fighting and Law Enforcement
- Giving in America
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_1801154
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b2-6224-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa