Good friend and colleague Blair wears this medallion often. It is a lovely piece of jewelry, and the story makes it more precious. As you might have guessed this was a prize awarded for achievement in composition at P.S. 93 in New York. Blair's grandmother was in ninth grade when she received it. Blair calculates it was sometime around 1910. Grandmother wore this proudly pinned to her bodice for many years until it was passed down to her daughter, Blair's mother. Ten years ago Blair's husband gave his wife a lovely gold necklace for their 30th anniversary. At that time Blair received the golden pin, carefully altered so it could be attached to her necklace. Now each morning she puts this on she can think of the love stretching back one hundred years from the strong women in her family and the love that surrounds her from her strong husband. So much power in this graceful symbol.
What a lovely family heirloom and story. Do they have anything she wrote? I have my grandmother's mandolin and a picture of her giving a lesson. It's such a wonderful tie to my "musical" past! Lovely shot!
Those were the days! Primary schools giving out gold medals! I have two Trinity School of Music, London, gold medals won by each of my grandmothers. One was for Voice, the other for Violin. My medals would be of a similar age to this one.
That is a wonderful story and family heirloom. I like how you cropped this in a circle to match the circular shape of the medallion. I hope they have some of her grandmother's compositions.
