National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers

Initially, the Asylum, later called the Home, was planned to have three branches: in the Northeast, in the central area north of the Ohio River, and in what was then considered the Northwest, the present upper Midwest.

The Board of Managers, charged with governance of the Home, added seven more branches between 1870 and 1907 as broader eligibility requirements allowed more veterans to apply for admission.

The term "asylum" was used in the 19th century for institutions caring for dependent members of society, such as the insane and the poor, who were thought to temporarily have conditions that could be cured or corrected.

The low numbers of the veteran population and the more attractive offer of free land kept the pension system relatively small until after the Civil War.

In 1811 the United States Navy was authorized by Congress to establish a permanent shelter for its veterans; construction was started in 1827.

[2] In 1827, Secretary of War James Barbour suggested a similar institution for the Army, but Congressional lack of interest and funding meant such a project was delayed.

[5] The Civil War was the first event in the history of the United States considered to be national in the scale of citizen involvement, and in its effects on the daily lives of people communities in both the North and the South.

Very early in the war, it became clear to social leaders in the North that new programs were required to deliver medical care to the wounded beyond what was available through the official military structure.

The leading civilian organization was the United States Sanitary Commission; it secured permission from President Lincoln in the summer of 1861 to deliver medical supplies to the battle front, build field hospitals staffed with volunteer nurses (mostly women), and raise funds to support the commission's programs.

Still, they had to select the sites, arrange supervision of construction projects, and designate local officials while serving as unpaid volunteers of an independent Federal agency.

[10] The Board issued a bulletin to newspapers and to governors of the northern states requesting proposals for sites to be donated or sold for use by the branches.

In regards to a Milwaukee location or a northwestern branch, the Board directed that an executive committee visit the city to select a site.

The Southern Branch of the National Asylum was established in October 1870, with the Board's purchase of the Chesapeake Female College at Hampton, Virginia.

Considering the ages for Civil War participants ranged from 13 to 43 years in 1860, the Home could have expected continuing admissions well into the 20th century.

The Board indicated a new understanding of the population makeup when it recommended that Congress change the eligibility requirements for admission to the Home by allowing benefits to all destitute soldiers unable to earn a living, without having to trace their disabilities to their military service.

[16] The Board realized that denying benefits to this large group of veterans meant their only recourse was the poor house.

At the September 1883 Board meeting, the managers considered asking Congress for the transfer of Fort Riley, Kansas, to the Home as a new facility.

In effect, the Federal government assumed responsibility of providing care for the aged veterans; what had been established as a temporary asylum for disabled people in 1866, had become a permanent home for the elderly.

This legislation provided for expansion of the National Home by authorizing branches to be established west of the Mississippi and on the Pacific Coast.

The Board returned to Congress with a request for deficiency funding, arguing that the Home could either go into debt, which was illegal under its organic law, or it would have to discharge a large number of members to save on expenses.

[20] At the same meeting, the Board took under consideration the establishment of a Pacific Branch; the Sawtelle Veterans Home opened near Santa Monica, California in January 1888.

Even with the creation of two new branches, the Board realized that membership would continue to increase; it proposed four alternatives to manage the needs.

The homes gradually developed as complete planned communities, with kitchens, gardens and facilities for livestock, designed to be nearly self-sufficient.

The last of the National Home facilities was established as the Battle Mountain Sanitariumt at Hot Springs, South Dakota, in 1907.

On April 29, 1922, this agency assumed responsibility for fifty-seven veterans' hospitals operated by the Public Health Service, as well as nine under construction by the Treasury Department.

[26] The participation of African Americans in World War I and issues of racism in US society added to the complexity of caring for veterans.

For the most part, the World War I veterans were receiving medical treatment and returning to civilian life, rather than entering the domiciliary program for the Home.

[30] In June 1929, the president of the Board of Managers was appointed to the Federal Commission for Consideration of Government Activities Dealing with Veterans' Matters.

Supper would be a light fare like stewed dried fruits, watermelons, sugar cookies, tea, fresh berries, corn meal or rolled oats with syrup, cheese and biscuits.

Preparing these meals required 126 cooks, 44 bakers, 18 butchers, 22 bread cutters, along with farm hands, dishwashers, servers and gardeners.