History of VA and its administrations

What is the history of the Department of Veteran Affairs? The origin 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.

This site is updated regularly, so check back often or sign up for our monthly newsletter in the sign up box below to have the latest stories in your inbox.

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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.

Building 116, the Old Headquarters. One of the buildings part of the on-going National VA History Center project.

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.

  • Read Object 75: “Bivouac of the Dead” Tablet

    History of VA in 100 Objects

    The mounted plaque stands in front of the headstones at Mobile National Cemetery in Alabama. The dark, cast-aluminum tablet draws a stark contrast to the sea of pearly marble beyond. Across its face in white lettering runs the sorrowful first stanza of Theodore O’Hara’ elegiac poem, “Bivouac of the Dead,” beginning with the verse “The muffled drum’s sad roll has beat / The Soldier’s last tattoo; / No more on life's parade shall meet / That brave and fallen few.” Tablets bearing passages from O’Hara’s poem can be found in dozens of VA national cemeteries across the country. Originally written to honor the Kentucky volunteers who died in the Mexican War (1846-48), the poem now serves as a literary memorial to all lives lost in service to the nation.

  • Read Object 74: Photo Spread on Veterans Canteen Service

    History of VA in 100 Objects

    When U.S. Army General Omar N. Bradley became head of VA at the end of World War II, he was determined to improve the quality of care across the agency’s hospital system. His commitment to providing better patient services extended to the stores and canteen service found in VA hospitals. Veterans and advocacy organizations complained that the concessions operated by third-party vendors often charged inflated prices and delivered substandard services. 

    After VA conducted an internal investigation that validated Veterans’ concerns, Bradley took the issue to Congress. His desire to find a better solution for Veterans led to the establishment of the Veterans Canteen Service.

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.

  • Read Drs. Ivy Brooks and Mildred Dixon: Challenging the Status Quo

    Featured Stories

    In the mid-twentieth century, the lives of Dr. Ivy Brooks and Mildred Dixon, two trailblazing Black women physicians, converged at the Tuskegee, Alabama, VA Medical Center. Doctor's Ivy Roach Brooks and Mildred Kelly Dixon shared much in common. Both women were born in 1916 in the northeastern United States and received training in East Orange, New Jersey. They both launched careers in alternate medical professions before entering the fields of radiology and podiatry, respectively. Pioneering many “firsts” throughout their professional lives, both women faced and overcame the rampant racism and sexism of the era.

  • Read Tuskegee’s Librarian: Dr. Sara Marie Johnson Peterson Delaney

    Featured Stories

    Dr. Sara (Sadie) Marie Johnson Peterson Delaney was a trailblazer in promoting libraries and literacy – and worked at what would eventually become today’s VA. She was the Chief Librarian of the VA hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama, for 34 years.

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.

  • Read New Skills, New Freedoms: Occupational Therapy Artifacts from the National VA History Center 

    Exhibits

    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, to include items in the collection at the National VA History Center.

  • Read “Like Joan of Arc of Old”: The Origin of Health Care for Women Veterans

    Exhibits

    VA History Exhibit - While women have served in nearly all of America’s wars, some only achieved the right to Government-provided health care after World War One. This exhibit examines how women Veterans obtained admittance to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers 100 years ago in 1923, and profiles what care looked like for these first women patients.

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.

  • Read Reframing Mary Lowell Putnam

    Curator Corner

    Mary Lowell Putnam is tied to VA history by her generous donation of a large volume of books to the Central Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. These books, meant to honor her son who died in the Civil War, helped foster reading advancement for the Veterans who lived there after the war and into the 20th Century. However, her life was more than just a moment in time donating books. It included a life-long study of languages and a very sharp opinion that she shared in writing throughout her life.

  • Read What’s in the box: A pair of plaster presidential busts

    Curator Corner

    Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are among the most easily recognizable figures in American history. Their faces are symbols of wisdom, strength, and leadership. Even today, polls consistently rank them as the greatest or most successful presidents. With that in mind, it is unsurprising that the appreciation of these legendary statesmen has deep historic roots. In honor of their birthdays, our team at the National VA History Center explored those roots through this pair of plaster busts.

Multimedia

Our History Team takes part in various podcasts and videos. To help navigate the various items out there, we have them all in one spot for you to watch while relaxing at home or listen to while driving to work or hitting the gym. Enjoy.