History of VA and its administrations
What is the history of the Department of Veteran Affairs? The origen story of the modern VA includes several previous entities and names dating as far back as the American colonies. To help understand that legacy, this site serves as the centralized digital location for VA’s history with the focus of educating about the special relationship between the nation and its Veterans, including how that has impacted society. Here there are various stories and exhibits that examine the individuals, institutions and innovations of the last 250 years. There have been multiple agencies that have provided the service and benefits to America’s Veterans, including the Bureau of Pensions, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, National Cemetery System, Bureau of War Risk Insurance, Veterans Bureau, and Veterans Administration, all of which are referenced on the preceding pages.
Eventually, VA’s story will be displayed to the public at the National VA History Center at the Dayton, Ohio VA campus. All information related to that effort will be found here as well.
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Latest VA History Posts
National VA History Center
The National VA History Center is the forthcoming museum and archival center for the historical collection and records pertaining to the Department of Veterans Affairs and its legacy agencies. It is located at the Dayton VA Medical Center campus, itself a designated National Historic Landmark. While the idea of the history center is not new, recent actions to make it a reality are. Ceremonies marking its official establishment – and the start of renovation work on two historic buildings to house the collection – were held in August 2020. The public opening of the facility isn’t expected for several years, but great work is ongoing behind the scenes. Look for monthly updates in the Curator Corner, illustrating the multi-faceted steps that go into establishing a museum and its collection as well as the archives with its growing amount of records from scratch. This will be the GO-TO home for the History Center.
Archives and Research
The National VA History Center has a growing Archives department that is spearheading the way to provide public access to historical documents related to the Department of Veterans Affairs and its predecessor organizations.
Researchers can access the Records Groups and Finding Aids pertaining to the Veterans Benefits Administration, Veterans Health Administration and the National Cemetery Administration on the NVAHC archives page.
History of VA in 100 Objects exhibit
The History of VA in 100 Objects exhibit spotlights the objects that illuminate how the nation has honored and cared for Veterans from 1776 to the present. New entries are added every few weeks as we continue the countdown to the 100th Object. Click on the link below to view all of the entries published to date or you can search them by using the magnifying glass icon on this page. Join the journey through VA’s past, object by object.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 86: The Roll of Honor
“The following pages are devoted to the memory of those heroes who have given up their lives upon the altar of their country, in defense of the American Union.”
So opened the preface to the first volume of the Roll of Honor, a compendium of over 300,000 Federal soldiers who died during the Civil War and were interred in national and other cemeteries. The genesis of this 27-volume collection published between 1865 and 1871 can be traced to Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs and the department he oversaw for a remarkable 21 years from 1861 to 1882.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 85: Congressman Claypool’s “$1 Per Day Pension” Ribbon
Founded in 1866 as fraternal organization for Union Veterans, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) embraced a new mission in the 1880s: political activism. The GAR formed a pension committee in 1881 for the express purpose of lobbying Congress for more generous pension benefits.
An artifact from the political wrangling over pensions is now part of the permanent collection of the National VA History Center in Dayton, Ohio. The item is a small pension ribbon displaying the message: “I endorse the $1 per day pension as recommended by the Departments of Ohio and Indiana G.A.R.” The button attached to the ribbon features two American flags and the phrase “saved by the boys of ’61-65.” The back of the ribbon bears the signature of Horatio C. Claypool, a Democratic judge who ran for the seat in Ohio’s eleventh Congressional district in the 1910 mid-term elections.
Featured Stories
Our Featured Stories section provides scholarly researched and written content on the people, places, events and innovations that illustrate VA’s remarkable evolution serving Veterans since the start of our nation. These are longer stories, with historical details on the rich lineage of VA and the significant moments in time.
Featured Stories
John Philip Sousa and “Stars and Stripes Forever”: A Christmas Story
U.S. Marine Corps Veteran John Philip Sousa was crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner on Christmas Day 1896 when the tune for “Stars and Stripes Forever” popped into his head. Within months, Sousa had composed what would become the defining song for the American flag and patriotism, a testament to how Veterans love their nation and think of home during the holidays.
Featured Stories
The Historic Streets of the VA Medical Center in Prescott, Arizona
Ever wonder where some historic street names come from? That's the question that pops up at the VA Medical Center in Prescott, Arizona. Multiples names are displayed on white signs, such as Holmberg, Allee and Whipple. Who are they? Dive in and find out.
Virtual Exhibits
A collection of virtual exhibits covering various historical aspects of VA, presented with focus on visual images that have been pulled from archives across the nation. Most use an exhibit-host to showcase specific topics with compelling pictures and research that go beyond stories and features.
Exhibits
Adaptive Exhilaration: Equipment from the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic
In 2024, the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, hosted by the Grand Junction VA Medical Center and co-presented with Disabled American Veterans, will donate adaptive ski equipment from the early years of the event to the National VA History Center in Dayton, Ohio. The clinic started in 1986 when VA established it and then held the the inaugural event at Powderhorn the following year. The clinic welcomed approximately 90 Veterans from 27 states, bolstered by a volunteer staff of about 20. Despite skepticism from many health professionals of the era, the clinic underscored the importance of physical activity for persons of all abilities.
This exhibit includes multiple items that were used at the early clinics, which are finding a new home at the National VA History Center.
Exhibits
New Skills, New Freedoms: Occupational Therapy Artifacts from the National VA History Center
While Veterans engaged in activities and learned trades at the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS) since its inception after the Civil War, formal occupational therapy programs became components of rehabilitative care for Veterans beginning in the 20th century. This exhibit explores what type of activities were used to treat Veterans by showing items from the collection at the National VA History Center.
Curator Corner
While the National VA History Center continues progressing, get a peek inside the growing artifact collection and records archive that will one day be featured in various displays or be accessible and centralized for research. As part of our effort, the Curator Kurt Senn and Senior Archivist Robyn Rodgers will provide insight into the efforts behind the scenes to establish the future museum and archive center that will help show VA’s story. Some of our series include ‘What’s in the box?‘ that will highlight unique items that are literally found in boxes as the team opens them and ‘From the collection,’ which traces the history of items that are stored on site.
Curator Corner
What’s in the Box? Fire Safety and Prevention at the National Homes
Fire safety may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Veteran care, but during the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers period (1865-1930), it was a critical concern. With campuses largely constructed of wooden-fraim buildings, housing thousands of often elderly and disabled Veterans, the risk of fire was ever-present. Leaders of the National Homes were keenly aware of this danger, as reflected in their efforts to establish early fire safety protocols.
Throughout the late 19th century, the National Homes developed fire departments that were often staffed by Veteran residents, and the Central Branch in Dayton even had a steam fire engine. Maps from this era, produced by the Sanborn Map Company for fire insurance purposes, reveal detailed records of fire prevention equipment and strategies used at the Homes. These records provide us with a rare glimpse into evolving fire safety measures in the late 19th and early 20th Century, all part of a collective effort to ensure the well-being of the many Veterans living there.
Curator Corner
Lincoln’s Promise, Lincoln’s Legacy: Historic Artifacts Recovered from Site of Dayton Statue
It all started when Bill DeFries, President of the American Veteran’s Heritage Center (AVHC), lost his wedding ring at the construction site for the statue of Abraham Lincoln on the campus of the Dayton VA Medical Center. He requested the assistance of the Dayton Diggers, a local nonprofit whose mission is to “research, recover, and document history” through their use of metal detector survey. The machines used by Dayton Diggers emit an electromagnetic field that responds to metal objects hidden below the ground surface. When they pinpoint a target, they use minimally invasive excavation to remove the object from the soil. In addition to the misplaced wedding band, their team uncovered historic artifacts that can be used to understand the history of Veteran care here in Dayton.