Veterans Administration

In a first, the 1840 census collected data on Veterans and widows receiving a pension from the federal government. The government published its findings in a stand-alone volume titled “A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services.”

The Southern Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers opened in Hampton, Virginia, in late 1870. The circumstances surrounding the purchase of the property, however, prompted an investigation into the first president of the National Home’s Board of Managers, Benjamin Butler.

In 1933, VA staff presented agency chief Frank Hines with a scrapbook commemorating his ten years of service to Veterans. Intended as a personal keepsake for Hines, the scrapbook also offers a snapshot of a particular time in VA history.

Leadership change is something that happens constantly, whether it’s due to promotion, health, or other circumstances. At the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Northern Arizona Medical Center (formally known as Whipple VA Hospital) in Prescott, Arizona, directors have stayed in their position on average, three to five years. The shortest stint was 22 months, the longest was 16 years and two months. Most former directors moved on and retired elsewhere. However, two former directors, Paul N. Schmoll and Virgil I. McIntyre, either returned to or stayed in Prescott following their retirement. Both men are laid to rest at local cemeteries in the Prescott, Arizona, area.

In 1941, Dr. Margaret Craighill left her post as dean to serve in WWII, becoming the first woman doctor commissioned in the military and later a VA consultant.

In 1925, 100 years ago, the Veterans Bureau initiated the first hospital-based medical research studies to address Veteran-specific issues like mental health, tuberculosis, cancer and toxic exposure. The program has since made significant medical breakthroughs and innovations, impacting the world.

In 2026, the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of its independence. While this will be the Department of Veterans Affairs’ first national centennial since becoming a cabinet-level department in 1989, its predecessor organizations, including the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, the Pension Bureau, the Veterans Bureau, and the Veterans Administration, routinely participated in national centennial commemorations. Each served to honor the contributions of American Veterans in preserving freedom.

In 1949, VA produced a 19-minute film titled “You Can Lick TB.”  The film follows a fictional conversation between a bedridden Veteran with tuberculosis and his VA doctor, dramatizing through brief vignettes the different stages of TB treatment and recovery.

During the Civil War, thousands of women served as nurses for the Union Army. Most had no prior medical training, but they volunteered out of a desire to support family members and other loved ones fighting in the war. Female nurses cared for soldiers in city infirmaries, on hospital ships, and even on the battlefield, enduring hardships and sometimes putting their own lives in danger to minister to the injured.

Despite the invaluable service they rendered, Union nurses received no federal benefits after the war. Women-led organizations such as the Woman’s Relief Corps spearheaded efforts to compensate former nurses for their service. In 1892, Congress finally acceded to their demands.

For a time during and after World War II, active duty military personnel were assigned to the Veterans Administration.

That assignment was represented by a blue circle with a golden phoenix rising from the ashes. This was the shoulder patch worn by the more than 1,000 physicians, dentists, and other medical professionals serving in the U.S. Army at VA medical centers.

This was the same patch worn by Gen. Omar Bradley during his time as VA administrator after the war concluded.

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.

Prior to the 1960s, liver failure always ended in death. In May 1963, however, Dr. Thomas E. Starzl made medical history at the VA hospital in Denver, Colorado, when he performed the first liver transplantation on a patient who survived the operation.

Starzl's continued to refine his procedure, becoming a leading expert on liver transplants. The success rate for early transplants wasn't optimal, but that didn't stop him from researching new techniques and post-care practices. These innovations, coupled with new medications, improved the effectiveness and life-saving measures of that vital transplant surgery.