Dear Mr. Mudd:

What is the ori­gin of the stars on Prince­ton Uni­ver­sity build­ings? Is there any data­base list­ing the loca­tion of each star?

The bronze stars on win­dow sills of Prince­ton Uni­ver­sity dor­mi­to­ries com­mem­o­rate the University’s stu­dents and alumni who died in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and in the Viet­nam War. An addi­tional 13 bronze stars hon­or­ing those who died on Sep­tem­ber 11, 2001 are located in a memo­r­ial gar­den between East Pyne and Chan­cel­lor Green.

Let­ter from the Soci­ety of the Claw to mem­bers seek­ing fund­ing for the ini­tial stars.

The orig­i­nal 140 stars, hon­or­ing stu­dents who lost their lives in World War I, were placed in 1920. These stars were donated by mem­bers of the Soci­ety of the Claw, an orga­ni­za­tion of mem­bers of the Class of 1894 who, as a sign-on con­di­tion, promised to either attend the next five reunions or every reunion through­out their lives. The Soci­ety also inducted hon­orary mem­bers who had done an “unusual ser­vice” or “brought excep­tional honor” to Prince­ton, such as Woodrow Wil­son ’1879. The Soci­ety of the Claw raised $431.65 for these stars, which were then placed on the win­dow sill of each dorm room last occu­pied by a Prince­ton stu­dent who lost his life in the war.

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