Advancing the Mission to Preserve VA History

By VA History Office Staff

History was in the making in early 2020 as the nation experienced the start of a pandemic, creating a “new normal” of social distancing while wearing face masks. It also marked Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Robert Wilkie’s declaration on April 10, 2020, establishing an official VA History Office (VAHO), and within that, the National VA History Center (NVAHC).

VA had been one of the few Cabinet-level federal agencies without a program institutionalizing its history. A few months earlier, in July 2019, VA welcomed Col. Michael Visconage, USMC-Ret., as the first-ever chief historian. Once Visconage took the helm of VAHO, his top priorities were building the VA History Program and overseeing development of the NVAHC on the 400-acre campus of the Dayton VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Ohio.

An exterior view of Building 129, the Clubhouse, seen in 1871 as Veterans march past in formation. The Clubhouse is one of two buildings on the Dayton VA Medical Center campus being refurbished to serve the National VA History Center (NVAHC).

Opened in 1867, this medical facility, now a National Historic Landmark, was one of 14 “branches” of National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS) established after the Civil War. Thousands of Veterans lived, worked, and received medical care in the Central Branch Home, and were interred in the adjoining National Cemetery.

SAFEGUARDING ARTIFACTS AND DOCUMENTS

The NVAHC will consist of two historic buildings remaining from the NHDVS Central Branch, now treasured parts of the Dayton VAMC. The Old Headquarters (Building 116), a two-story, 10,800-squarefoot French Second Empire-style building constructed in 1871, will house a museum with public exhibitions, educational areas, and administrative space for staff.

The second structure is the Clubhouse (Building 129), a two-story Renaissance Revival-style brick building built in 1881. The Clubhouse is slated to provide VA’s History Program with 18,300 square feet of space to be used for artifact storage and the public archives. Both buildings are currently undergoing significant renovations that will convert them into state-of-the-art exhibit and archival facilities.

The interior of Building 129 shown in 1881, with Veterans relaxing and playing pool.

In August 2020, Wilkie marked the official establishment of the NVAHC – and the start of the renovation work – at a ceremony on the Dayton VAMC campus. Visconage, who participated in the ceremony, stated that, “These two historic structures, built not long after the Civil War, will be a home for some of VA’s most significant artifacts and documents.” He further noted that, “The National VA History Center will bring together all three administrations within VA to tell the story of the unique relationship between America and our Veterans.”

Building 129 undergoing restoration.

After construction is complete, historians, researchers, writers, Veterans, students, and members of the public will be able to access historical VA artifacts and documents. Senior Archivist Robyn Rodgers, who joined the VA History Office in October 2020, has focused equally on textual and digital collections, thus making materials available more quickly to researchers.

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Working in a temporary artifact and archival storage facility on the Dayton VAMC campus, Rodgers also oversees the growing collection of COVID-19 materials (documents, images, oral histories, and artifacts) from VA employees and facilities across the country – a project brought to fruition by the effort of VA historians from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), and National Cemetery Administration (NCA), as well as several dedicated “detailees” (VA employees temporarily assigned to the History Office) and graduate students.

The 18,300-square-foot Clubhouse will be used for public archives and artifact storage.

Serving as the chief archivist at NASA before joining VA, Rodgers is experienced in establishing programs in ways that combine archival best practices and ethical collection standards. She says, “I am proud to be an inaugural member of the VA History Office, working to bring about the National VA History Center Archives and helping to preserve the story of VA’s commitment to our Veterans. ”

Rounding out the VA History team is Kurt Senn, the department’s first curator. Senn joined VA in May 2021, having previously served with the National Archives and Records Administration as the deputy director of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. Senn is responsible for collections management standards, developing exhibit concepts, and beginning the hunt for key artifacts from around VA. According to Senn, “These important items will be preserved in controlled environments for light, temperature, and humidity following the best professional practices.”

A historical photo of Building 116, the Old Headquarters building, as a part of the post-Civil War National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. It will house a museum with public exhibitions, educational areas, and administrative space for staff.

The historians from VHA, VBA, and NCA work closely with Visconage, Rodgers, and Senn, acting as the core project team developing the NVAHC visitor experience. After developing an initial concept, they will work with museum and archives specialty contractors to renovate the buildings. Initial rehabilitation work preparing the two buildings for final build-out is underway. This preliminary work should be completed in two to four years. The NVAHC’s nonprofit partner, the VA History Center Foundation, is responsible for fundraising for the final renovation phase.

Senn is leading the NVAHC core project team, which held its first on-site planning meeting in Dayton in early August 2021. While in Dayton, the team toured the Dayton VAMC campus, including the buildings that will house the exhibitions and collections. This provided the group with a sense of place and a foundation from which to develop exhibit themes and concepts. They also participated in brainstorming sessions that produced a draft mission statement for the NVAHC and a main theme for the exhibits.

SNEAKING A PEEK AT THE NATIONAL VA HISTORY CENTER AND MORE: PROMOTING VA HISTORY ONLINE

History buffs won’t need to wait until opening day; the NVAHC is being developed with a capacity for remote access to virtual exhibits and archives.

Early resources the VA History Office offers include:

• VA History Office website at www. va.gov/history. On the VA History Features Page, visitors read about the first item placed in the NVAHC Archives: an 1861 Bible from the pulpit of the Dayton VA Medical Center Protestant chapel. Other highlights include virtual exhibits created by VAHO graduate and undergraduate students on the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers using vintage postcards, and on Nobel Prize winner and VA medical researcher, Dr. Rosalyn Yalow. The features page also includes articles by historians from each of the VA administrations, VAHO detail staff, and student interns. Senn will use the VAHO website, as well as public presentations and other channels, to keep constituents updated on the collection of artifacts.

• VA History Office GovDelivery Subscription at https://public.govdelivery. com/accounts/USVAHO/subscriber/ new enables current and new visitors to the VA History Office website to receive updates on new features, Veterans stories, and progress updates on the development of the NVAHC.

Then-VA Secretary Robert L. Wilkie and Judge Dennis J. Adkins (Montgomery County, Ohio) review the proposed plans to restore the unique late-19th century Funeral Tunnel between the Dayton VA Medical Center and the Dayton National Cemetery, one of many historic features on the Dayton VA campus, Aug. 10, 2020. Wilkie and Adkins were wearing masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic during this period.

ENVISIONING A FUTURE THAT COMMITS TO THE PAST

During the August 2021 visit, the core project team developed a vision statement for the NVAHC that reflects the aims of the Center:

Promote understanding and study of the unique relationship between the United States and its Veterans through the lens of the VA experience – the care of their wounds, the benefits bestowed by a grateful nation, the contributions of Veterans to society after serving, and the honors provided at their passing.

Through VAHO’s establishment and the development of NVAHC, the department has demonstrated a commitment to collecting, preserving, and presenting its archives and artifacts in a permanent, centralized location. In doing so, VA will ensure that these historic materials are not lost or destroyed, but that they are made available and accessible for the benefit of current and future generations.