Dear Ms. Koehn,
Thank you for sharing your question with the History Hub.
Based on the images of the star/sun pin you included in your post and on the location of the pin in a photo album or scrapbook, I assume that the pin is a decorative paper fastener of some sort and not a military decoration or award. The prongs on the back of the pin resemble those found on many fasteners or “brads,” which are typically made out of brass and have a split pin back. You can find a more detailed description here. While I’ve never come across a brad that looks exactly like the one you found, I have seen an extremely wide variety of fasteners while working at the National Archives. The World War II-era records in our custody have a particularly high number of unique and creative fasteners--likely because it was wartime and people used what they had on hand.
Some examples of fasteners are available here at the website for the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Additionally, you may wish to contact the University Archives at Northwestern University to see if they can offer any insight. Their website is http://www.library.northwestern.edu/libraries-collections/university-archives/index.html.
And finally, you might also contact the Naval Historical Foundation for further assistance. Their website is http://www.navyhistory.org/.
Thank you, again, for posting your question to the History Hub, and best of luck with your ongoing search!
Dec 6, 2017 9:09 AM