This gold colored hat pin is approximately 2 inches x 1.75 inches. It has a screw back finish, as shown. The composition is unknown; there are no metal stamps that I could find. Could be brass, could be 8k, 10k, 12k, or 14k gold (18k or higher was rarely used on hat pins). Non-magnetic.

This dates prior to 1966, when the Georgia Military Academy was renamed Woodward Academy. I've seen enamel designs from the 1940s & 50s, so I suspect this was made even earlier, c1920.

From the Woodward Academy website:

"We Honor Our Heritage...

Woodward Academy has always been a school of its time and yet, often and in many ways, ahead of its time.

In 1900, Atlanta had a population of 89,872. It was three years before Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first flight in Kitty Hawk, N.C., and the world had not yet seen its first silent film, World Series, or Nobel Prize. Colonel John Charles Woodward was a young Georgia educator who had earned his master’s degree at the University of Chicago and returned to his native state eager to put his philosophies about education into practice. He and his wife, Lucile, settled in College Park to establish Georgia Military Academy, a place where students would grow not only in knowledge but also in the qualities—service to others, strong character, responsibility, problem-solving—that transformed their lives and the world around them. 

Surviving and even thriving through world wars, a Great Depression, and two global pandemics, the Academy continues to embrace Col. Woodward’s philosophies and to interpret them in ways that are relevant to today’s students and the challenges of our times. Woodward is a place where caring, engaged citizens grow. It’s a place where children are equipped with empathy, thoughtfulness, confidence, tenacity, and resilience—with a foundation strong enough to support whatever future they can imagine for themselves. Although Col. Woodward may never have foreseen the educational advances of the digital age, he would still recognize the school he founded in the trials and triumphs that students navigate today, in the dedicated educators who guide them, and in the thousands of alumni who make a difference in our world.

OPENING THE DOORS AT GMA

(1900-1929)

1900-1905

1900

• Colonel John Charles and Lucile Woodward began to realize their dream of providing educational excellence

• Georgia Military Academy opened with 30 students, three teachers, one four-story building, and 16 acres 

1902

• First new building added to campus, Rugby Hall 

1904

• Color Guard established 

1905

• Enrollment grew to 100 students, and GMA employed nine teachers

Faculty 1905-1906

Original Founder's Hall

Oscar Palmour and cadets, early 1900s

Colonel Woodward with Oscar Palmour, first teacher, and cadets

Rugby Hall

Color Guard

Faculty 1905-1906

Original Founder's Hall

Oscar Palmour and cadets, early 1900s

Colonel Woodward with Oscar Palmour, first teacher, and cadets

Rugby Hall

Color Guard

1908-1918

1908

• GMA incorporated with Colonel Woodward as President/Treasurer and Mrs. Woodward as Secretary and later as Vice President

• Robert W. Woodruff '08 graduated from GMA

1909

• Six hundred GMA alumni enlisted during World War I with 10 alumni losing their lives

1916 

• GMA designated Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps by the United States War Department

1920-1929

1920

• Memorial Hall built 

• Junior School established

1929

• Marching band named for Robert W. Woodruff

HONORING OUR MILITARY PAST

(1930-1959)

1931-1935

1931

• World War Monument erected in honor of the 10 GMA alumni who died in service to their country 

• Relationship with Cuba continued, resulting in a number of Cuban students boarding at GMA 

• Tuition revenue from international students and financial support from Robert W. Woodruff '08 kept GMA from closing its doors during the Great Depression

1932 

• Colonel Woodward made his "Great Gesture" in which he gifted the Academy to the Governing Board

1935 

• Eagle over the gate added and dedicated to Sergeant Archie T. Johnson

Cuban Club

Tampico (Mexico) Club

1931-32 football team with Colonel M.C. Paget stopped off at Lookout Mountain en route to play football

Cuban Club

Tampico (Mexico) Club

1940-1957

1940 

• Junior College opened for a two year post-graduate program, closing in 1953

1941 

• An estimated 1,500 GMA alumni enlisted during World War II

1946

• World War II Monument dedicated to the 84 alumni who died in service to their country

1957 

• Cadets marched in President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inaugural parade, January 21, 1957

SETTING TRANSFORMATION IN MOTION

(1960-1969)

1960-1963

1960

• Colonel Brewster retired and became President Emeritus 

• Captain William R. Brewster Jr. '37 elected third president

1961

• Korean Conflict Monument erected by Class of 1961 to honor the seven alumni who died in service to their country 

• First kindergarten established 

• Cadets marched in President John F. Kennedy's inaugural parade

1962 

• GMA campus expanded with construction of Woodward Hall (now Brewster Hall, home of the History Center), Alumni Hall, and Colquitt Stadium

1964-1965

1964

• GMA admitted 32 female students

• Brewster Hall built on the site of the original Founder's Hall, now Jane Woodruff Hall

1965

• First female students graduated

• First class graduated under the name Woodward Academy 

• Richard C. Gresham Chapel dedicated on May 14, 1967 

1969 

• Woodward Academy added female boarding students 

• Girls' athletic programs began"

There's a lot more on their website, but I'm stopping there since the GMA was renamed in 1966.

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