Jun 12 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2708 -
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Sale 2708 - Lot 27

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
(ARCTIC.) Gold fraternity key issued to Admiral Byrd for his efforts toward world peace. 14k gold ornament, 1½ x ¾-inch, with enamel embellishments and a small diamond, engraved on verso "To Admiral Richard E. Byrd for distinguished service in social science, 1937"; minimal wear. No place, [28 December 1937]
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Additional Details

This ceremonial key was awarded to explorer Rear Admiral Richard Byrd in the midst of his polar career. Pi Gamma Mu was founded in 1924 as a national honor society for the social sciences. Byrd was honored at their annual dinner held in Atlantic City, NJ on 28 December 1937 for his "distinguished service in the cause of social science and international cooperation and peace." He was unable to attend, but a representative read his speech for the occasion. With Nazi Germany on the march, he criticized the "peace-at-any-price" crowd which "makes so much noise that the acquisitive nations have come to the impression that whatever depredations they may commit against a weak nation . . . they will go unpunished by the democracies of the world" (New York Times and Camden Courier-Post, 29 December 1937).

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