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 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.
During the Civil War, over 6,000 women provided essential medical care to support of Union troops. However, they were considered contract forces, not regular forces, which excluded them from many of the benefits, services, and care male Veterans received after the war. Beginning in the 1860s though, some women were allowed burial in National Cemeteries and by 1892, the first law permitting pensions for women who served as nurses for the Union Army during the Civil War was enacted. It was the first time that women received pensions in their own right, not as widows or dependents. Despite advancements, women Veterans were still not able to access the same care as male Veterans, which came in the form of the newly established National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS). In March of 1865, President Abraham Lincoln established the NHDVS system, the nation’s first Federal program to meet the medical and rehabilitative needs of America’s Veterans. These Homes were domiciliary environments where Veterans could live, work, and receive medical care. By the 20th Century, eleven branches of the NHDVS existed across the country.
In 1892, the first law permitting pensions for women who served as nurses for the Union Army during the Civil War was enacted. It was the first time that women received pensions in their own right, not as widows or dependents.
(Photo Left) Group of Civil War nurses, January 4, 1862. Nurses during the Civil War could volunteer for assignments for up to three months at a time.
Despite challenges, women’s military service became more formalized at the dawn of the 20th century.
Beginning in 1901, women officially became part of the Nation’s military with the establishment of the Army Nurse Corps.
(Photo Left) Nurses aboard U.S. Army Hospital Ship Relief doing medical work in Cuba during Spanish-American War. These women were the forerunners of the Army Nurse Corps established in February 1901.
World War I fundamentally changed the concept and role of women in wartime as more than 35,000 American women signed up for service.
It was the first war in which women wore uniforms and were officially linked to a service branch.
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps were the first to actively solicit women with the creation of the Yeomanettes and Marinettes.
Occupying a wide variety of noncombat duty positions, women took on roles from radio electricians and draftsmen to secretaries, mechanics, accountants, telephone operators, and more.
But it was the U.S. Army medical service that predominated, with over half of women who served belonging to the Army Nurse Corps.
(Photo left) As men were drafted into service in record numbers, women were called upon to fill their roles including in munitions factories and munitions testing.
The gains women achieved during the war continued in the post war environment, as the 19th amendment securing the right to vote was adopted in 1919.
That same year hospitalization and medical care for Veterans who served during World War I, was first authorized as part of Public Law 65-326 on March 3, 1919.
Although the 1919 law extended to Army nurses as well, no facilities were prepared to accept them.
The Women’s Overseas Service League, formed in May 1921 sought to provide aid—financial and otherwise—to women Veterans. One of its major aims was to help ex-Service women receive health care and gain admittance to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS).
The cause was also taken up by the powerful American Legion.
A survey conducted by the Legion’s hospitalization committee in 1923 found that the situation was “very grave” for women Veterans, warning that unless domiciliary care was afforded, many would die.
Lobbying efforts led to the landmark decision on September 14, 1923, by the Board of Managers of the NHDVS to accept women Veterans into the National Homes.
The resolution ordered a “separate building be set aside at the Danville Branch, Danville, Illinois, for the care of ex-service women who are entitled to admission to the Home and in need of general hospital treatment or domiciliary care, and that separate facilities be set aside at the tuberculosis hospital at the Northwestern Branch, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for such ex-service women as are in need of treatment for tuberculosis.”
Privileges to women were extended “on exactly the same status as men.”
Admittance was based on the following conditions:
- The Applicant needed to have been honorably discharged from the army, navy, or marine corps in case there is sufficient disability.
- The disability need not have been incurred during service.
- The disability may be the result of old age or sickness.
- Admission does not necessitate permanent residence, as residents may be discharged upon their own request or when cured.
- Transportation to be provided by the Government
The historic announcement was heralded with headlines across the Nation.
On the Danville campus (now the VA Illiana Healthcare System) three separate buildings were set aside for women in what was referred to as the “nucleus” of women’s care. The image in the background is one of many postcards of various NHDVS campuses.
While women had their own living quarters, mess halls, and other common elements were shared including chapels, recreational, and educational facilities.
At the Northwestern Branch (now the Clement J. Zablocki VAMC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a building was set aside for specialized care for women Veterans recovering from tuberculosis and respiratory issues.
(Background photo) The Northwestern Branch campus, 1903. (Milwaukee Public Library)
Scroll for more images of the Northwestern Branch.
Women from all over the Nation began applying for admission and gained acceptance including the following individuals:
The World War Veterans Act of 1924 and other legislation ensured care was extended to more women in more places. That same year, Veterans Bureau hospitals began accepting women Veterans as patients.
By the end of the decade, over 3,000 women Veterans were receiving care in Veterans Bureau Hospitals and NHDVS Campuses.
In 1930 The Veterans Bureau and National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers were combined to form the Veterans Administration.
In March 1931, women residents of the Danville Home moved to the National Home in Dayton, Ohio, with some taking up residence in a former hotel known as the Miller Cottage (background photo).
Today, more than 1.9 million women Veterans live in America, and more than 600,000 women Veterans receive health care at VA each year. At VA, women Veterans now have access to a full spectrum of comprehensive health and gender-specific care, including fertility services, mental health care, and maternity care and more. Veterans do not have to be disabled or have a service-connected injury to be eligible for care.