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It’s not every day that someone gets to celebrate the 100th birthday of their hero, but for �鶹��Ƶ graduate student Mason St. Clair, it happened.

On Oct. 1, he was in Plains, Georgia, attending the 100th birthday bash of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and shared details of his experience with �鶹��Ƶ Today. Carter, a Democrat who served one term from 1977-1981, is the only American president to live to age 100.

St. Clair graduated from �鶹��Ƶ in May with a bachelor’s degree in integrated social studies in the College of Education, Health and Human Services. While he may one day pursue a career as a social studies and history teacher, St. Clair opted to stay at �鶹��Ƶ and complete his master’s degree before launching his career.

His master’s program is in political history in the College of Arts and Sciences, with a focus on the material culture of campaigns from 1896 to 1976 – the year Carter was elected. As part of his research on how the 1976 presidential campaign affected Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, St. Clair talked with former shop owners and locals about the types of campaign materials that were introduced in Plains during the 1976 campaign, including souvenirs.  

“I was looking at just how buttons and posters helped catapult Carter to the White House in ’76,” St. Clair explained. The research will be a large part of his master’s thesis.

St. Clair is a collector of political campaign paraphernalia with an emphasis on President Carter memorabilia. His collection of Carter memorabilia numbers more than 500 items, representing every stage of the president’s life or political career.  

In 2023, St. Clair created a large exhibit of his Carter paraphernalia that was displayed at the on the Kent Campus to mark Carter’s 99th birthday. At the time, St. Clair was hoping the president, who is in declining health, would make it to celebrate his 100th birthday, although he never imagined he would be there for the celebration.

Read more about St. Clair's political paraphernalia collection.

St. Clair’s connections at the Carter Center, the nongovernmental, nonprofit organization founded by President Carter, resulted in him getting an invite to the birthday celebration, including a VIP reception.  

At the reception, he chatted with several presidential descendants including President Lyndon Johnson’s two daughters, President Harry Truman’s grandson, President Carter’s grandson, James Carter IV and other Carter family members.

The celebration included numerous events, including a concert, a naval plane flyover, and a naturalization ceremony in which 100 immigrants received their citizenship to mark the 100th birthday, St. Clair said. In addition, the Plains Peanut Festival was also taking place.

President Carter did not attend any of the events due to his age and infirmities, St. Clair said.  

However, St. Clair met Carter when he was 15. St. Clair’s parents took him to Plains, where they waited in line beginning at 4 a.m. on a Sunday to get a seat at services at Carter’s church so that he could meet the president and attend the Sunday School class that Carter and his late wife, Rosalynn, taught. St. Clair also had his photo taken with his favorite president then. 

While at the birthday celebration, St. Clair said he was able to add a few more pieces to his Carter memorabilia collection, including a button from a 1980 campaign concert with country singer Willie Nelson, when Carter was running for re-election.  

“They’re really scarce,” St. Clair said of the button, “And I found one on a table at an antique mall really, really cheap. That was a treasure.”

The people of Plains and those affiliated with the Carter Center were extremely helpful to St. Clair.

“It was just nice to meet the people of Plains and all the resources they have,” he said. “They’re so willing to help in any part of research or connect me with different people and different groups.”

St. Clair, a native of Niles, Ohio, began collecting political paraphernalia in 2014 and has amassed a collection of more than 8,000 pieces.

He primarily collects pieces from presidential races or the civil rights movement. It was �鶹��Ƶ’s unique place in American history that made the university his first choice for his education, and he works at the May 4th Visitors Center.

St. Clair supports his collecting habit by running his own business making political buttons for current candidates in Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and Geauga counties in Northeast Ohio. The enterprise earns him enough to cover his collecting and then some. Plus, he sometimes gets to meet future officeholders before they get elected.