From the Civil War to Now: How Milwaukee’s Soldiers Home has revolutionized Veteran Health Care — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

From the Civil War to Now: How Milwaukee’s Soldiers Home has revolutionized Veteran Health Care

Name: Ashlynn Rickord
Major: History & Religion
Hometown: Oak Forest, IL
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project

Abstract

Hiding behind the enormous complex that is Miller Park, lies the Soldiers Home, a forgotten piece of Milwaukee history that not only brought about a population boom, but helped to establish the foundation for Veteran healthcare. The Soldiers Home offered the first fully comprehensive care plan for veterans returning home from war, also in its wake revolutionizing the family unit by creating an all-inclusive community. In order to show this change in the domestic lifestyle of families at the Soldiers Home, I highlight the amenities offered on site by looking at a firsthand account of a child who lived at the Soldiers Home, multiple books about the location, archival research, and discussions with administrators of the site. Milwaukee’s Soldiers Home played a big role in the expansion of not only the city of Milwaukee, but also of providing veterans with necessary treatment after returning home from combat.

Now instead of being heralded for its medical advances and its psychological effect on the family unit, it has faded into the background of the picturesque trees atop the hill the Soldiers Home is built upon. It is important to study the history of the Soldiers Home and its implications in order to inspire the rehabilitation of the decaying buildings, bringing back to light the important of the Soldiers Home.