It is expected to bring capital investment and new jobs to the area, perhaps making it an anchor for economic development in west Dayton. It’s the perfect capstone for the 150th anniversary of the Dayton VA Medical Center. Congratulations to Dayton VA Director Glenn Costie for playing an important role in making that dream become a reality.
The Dayton VA Medical Center was originally called the Central Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. It was created at the end of the Civil War to take care of the casualties of that war. Inspired by Abraham Lincoln’s initial authorization for a small asylum for injured soldiers — the word “asylum” was later abandoned as it took on a negative connotation — Congress created a national Board of Managers to construct three facilities across the country to serve injured and displaced war veterans.
The Board of Managers had 13 members, consisting of the President, the Chief Justice, the Secretary of War, along with five generals and five civilians. Dayton lawyer Lewis Gunckel was one of those civilians. Gunckel had many important connections, including being the chair of the host committee when Lincoln spoke at the Dayton Courthouse in 1859, serving as a Presidential Elector in the 1864 election, and, perhaps most importantly, arguing as an Ohio Senator that Ohio should create a state soldiers’ home for Ohio veterans. (He was also a founder of Gunckel & Strong, a law firm that continues to this day under the name Coolidge Wall LPA.)
Gunckel was elected Secretary of the Board of Managers for the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, giving him leverage to influence the board. He persuaded the board to choose Dayton as one of the three sites for the soldiers’ homes, and then to select the Dayton site as the Central Branch, effectively making Dayton the national headquarters for the soldiers’ homes. Gunckel used his local connections to raise the money to buy some 500 acres on which to build the facility. The soldiers’ homes after the Civil War were not just medical facilities. They provided a complete residential environment, including living quarters, chapels, libraries, workshops, entertainment centers, and, of course, health care facilities.
Over time, the character and mission of the Dayton Soldiers’ Home changed. Civil War veterans passed on and were replaced by the veterans of subsequent wars. In 1930, the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers merged into the newly created Veterans Administration, and the Dayton facility soon became known as the Dayton VA Medical Center. Under the management and direction of the Veterans Administration the mission of the Dayton VA Medical Center has grown, and its facilities have expanded.
In recent years, the Dayton VA has made a conscientious effort to celebrate its Civil War heritage with a substantial renovation and refurbishment of its campus, including the landscaping around its grotto and lake-side park, for which the Ohio State Master Gardeners has made some spectacular contributions. Having the national VA Archives placed in Dayton will commemorate its origin as the Central Branch of the Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and will cap the celebration of its 150th anniversary. Congratulations, Dayton VA Medical Center. Congratulations, Dayton.
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