Historic and rare 1.25" button depicting TR and Booker T. Washington at the dinner table sharing food and drink. This button inscribed simply "Equality" could be viewed according to the preferences of the viewer as either pro or anti TR. Likely issued for the 1904 campaign but the scene records an event from October 16, 1901, about one month after McKinley's funeral services in Washington, when TR invited Washington to dinner to make good on his pledge to consult Washington on matters of race and patronage. For a detailed account of the event as well as both the praise and outrage it invoked, read the popular biography "Theodore Rex" by Edmund Morris, chapter two. After this, TR continued to consult with Washington but Washington's additional visits were made during regular White House business hours and never again for dinner. Condition of this button is Exc. with only the most minor celluloid surface wear visible even under magnification. The design is perfectly centered and the colors are bright with glossy celluloid. The button is complete with "W. F. Miller/Pat. Appl'd For" backpaper. Great detail, down to the yellow dots on the wallpaper, and spectacular full color including pinpoint gold flake accents over the suits of both men. A wonderful NM example displaying Mint of a classic button.