HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
ISU's 1928 WWI memorial hall honors 117 Iowans who died in the war — including Hortense Elizabeth Wind, the only woman carved into its walls, whose ghost is heard moaning in the empty hall.
2229 Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50011
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The Memorial Union is a public building; free to enter. Some interior areas may require student or event tickets.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Large university union building; elevators available; Gold Star Hall is on the main floor.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1928 · World War I Memorial · 117 ISU Alumni Honored · Hortense Elizabeth Wind — Only Woman Named Among WWI Dead at ISU
The Iowa State University Memorial Union was built as a living memorial, funded partly by student fees and donations, and opened in 1928. Unlike a static monument, it was designed as an active campus gathering space — a union where students would use daily — while bearing permanent tribute to those who died.
Gold Star Hall is the memorial's heart, a formal room where the names of 117 ISU students and alumni killed in World War I are carved into the walls. Among them is Hortense Elizabeth Wind, a dietitian who served in France and died of influenza in 1918 before the Armistice was signed. She is the only woman named on the hall's walls, a distinction that has made her story both memorable and the focus of the building's haunting lore.
The Memorial Union has functioned continuously since 1928 as a hub of ISU campus life, housing dining, student organization space, and event facilities. Gold Star Hall remains a quiet, formally maintained space within the larger bustling building — a deliberate contrast built into the union's original design.
Sources
The paranormal claim at Gold Star Hall is specific and consistent: a low moan or whistling heard when the hall is empty, most often reported by staff working early or late shifts. The sound has been attributed to Hortense Wind, the only woman among the 117 names carved into the memorial walls.
Wind died of influenza in France in 1918, one of the thousands killed by the epidemic that swept through American military encampments in the final year of the war. She served as a dietitian, not a combatant, which makes her inclusion on a WWI memorial hall notable. The Iowa State Daily documented her as the only woman among the carved names, and her isolation on those walls — surrounded by the names of men — has given the legend a specific emotional logic.
The accounts come from students and campus workers reported in ISU publications over multiple years. No formal investigation of the sound has been published. The Memorial Union's age, size, and the presence of an active HVAC system in a large building give any anomalous sound a range of possible explanations. What keeps the legend alive is the specificity of Wind's story and her solitary status on the wall.
Notable Entities
Visit Gold Star Hall on the main floor of the ISU Memorial Union. The carved memorial walls list 117 Iowans who died in WWI, including Hortense Elizabeth Wind — the sole woman named — a dietitian who died of influenza in 1918 before the war ended. The hall is open during regular union hours.
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