A brooch made from pieces of the Berlin Wall, by Gisela Geiger (USA), 1989. (Courtesy of the Albright Stonebridge Group)
By David Gura
In September, I heard NPR's Susan Stamberg interview Madeleine Albright about the former secretary of state's impressive collection of brooches, which are featured in a new book and museum exhibition.
Albright told Stamberg how she started to assemble her collection:
When I was ambassador at the United Nations and Saddam Hussein called me a serpent. I had this wonderful antique snake pin. And so when we were dealing with Iraq, I wore the snake pin. I thought, well, this is fun. So then I went out and I bought a bunch of costume jewelry to signal what my mood of the day was.
Her pins are a "diplomatic tool," Albright says. According to Stamberg, "there were balloons, butterflies and flowers to signify optimism and, when diplomatic talks were going slowly, crabs and turtles to indicate frustration."
Paging through Albright's book, I noticed a pin made out of pieces of the Berlin Wall. I was sure she'd wear it yesterday, when she was a guest on our show. Turns out, the pin is at the Museum of Arts and Design, on display, but we tracked down a photo of it.
Comments
Please note that all comments must adhere to the NPR.org discussion rules and terms of use. See also the Community FAQ.
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Login | Register
More information needed to participate in the NPR online community.. Add this information