In honor of March as Women’s History Month, NOVA Nurse Emeritus Margaret Kruckemeyer noted that the National VA History Center is the planned 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 which is a designated National Historic Landmark.  As part of nursing’s rich history in caring for veterans, she identified that after the Civil war, Union nurses received no federal benefits were also initially excluded from Union Veterans’ organizations such as the Grand Army of the Republic.  In response, women created their own organizations in the hopes of securing both appreciation and benefits for their work as nurses.  In 1881, Dorothea Dix founded the Ex-Nurses Association of the District of Columbia, later renamed the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War (NAAN).  In 1883, the Grand Army admitted both Dix’s group and the newly established Woman’s Relief Corps (WRC) as auxiliaries.  The two organizations led efforts to compensate former nurses for their service. They created in-house charitable programs, such as the WRC’s Relief Committee and lobbied Congress to pass legislation granting pensions to former nurses, even if these pensions were only awarded on a case-by-case basis.  By the mid-1880s, Congress had begun issuing pensions in the amount of $12 to $25 to individual ex-nurses who had been injured during the war or were without familial means of support. Emma Lloyd Miller, who was a volunteer in the US Sanitary Commission as well as VA’s first female employee served at the Dayton VAMC from 1867-1914 in many leadership positions from Matron of the Soldiers Home to Superintendent of the Depot.  Miller was a devoted caretaker of Civil War Veterans who served as the Matron, the first woman to hold such a position. After the loss of her husband in the Civil War, she worked closely with a civilian-run group, the U.S. Sanitary Commission, to help returning Veterans and their families. When the Central Branch home was opened, she was appointed as Matron. Known for her great care, she was a perfect fit for the position at the newly opened Dayton Home. In this capacity, she oversaw the daily necessities to keep the Home functioning, including securing food, taking stock of rations, restocking hospital supplies, overseeing distribution of goods, and cleaning.  Miller eventually was promoted to a position as a Board of Managers for the whole NHDVS (VA) system. Working with Delphine Baker, Emma Miller established and maintained the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers system. With their leadership, generations of Veterans were cared for and supported, ensuring they received the best care possible following their service to the Nation and establishing the basis for today’s system of Veteran hospitals.

NOVA nurses followed in the footsteps of these Civil War nurses in 1985 when HR 2663 “The Cadet Nurse Bill” was initiated by a NOVA nurse, Angela Bohannon and the Topeka NOVA Chapter.  Nineteen eighty-six was the year that a NOVA nurse successfully found a way through the legislative process. H.R. 2663, “The Cadet Nurse Bill,” was introduced by the Hon. Jim Slattery (D-KS). The bill amended Title 5 U.S. Code to credit time spent in the Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II as creditable for civil service retirement. The bill was introduced in early 1986 and was signed into law by President Reagan on November 10, 1986. NOVA celebrates Angela Bohannon RN and the Topeka VAMC NOVA Chapter whose efforts resulted in this legislation being enacted.