Browse Exhibits (3 total)

Illinoisans at War

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Military conflict has been ingrained in the United States since its inception in 1776. Throughout the years countless individuals from Illinois have answered the call of conflict. Being recognized by one’s service to the nation and being bestowed the title of Veteran is an honor that few people can claim. A debt is owed to all veterans and the State Of Illinois continuously acknowledges the sacrifices made by those individuals who have served. Illinois veterans have participated in every major national conflict dating back to the Civil War. The history harvest has allowed an opportunity for community members to bring in veteran memorabilia in an attempt to share these individuals legacies. The pieces presented are an extension of those individuals and their time in service. Also highlighted through these items are some of the programs that have existed as benefits to those who earn the title veteran. Below is a brief explanation of the history of veteran benefits and what services are provided for veterans.

The United States has the most comprehensive system of Veterans benefits and care of any nation in the world. This history of Veterans’ benefits in this country dates from the War for Independence. For the first few years Veterans’ benefits were handled by the Federal Courts, but this quickly proved to be unsatisfactory and responsibility for administering benefits was assigned to the War Department. Initially, no clear distinctions were made between service pensions, pensions for needy, aged, or disabled Veterans, and pensions based on disabilities arising from military service. Different pension programs with different eligibility requirements were enacted for Veterans of each of the wars the United States fought during the first half of the nineteenth century. Benefits for survivors of wartime Veterans were first authorized about 1806. Until 1930 responsibility for various Veterans’ programs was fragmented among several agencies. During the latter part of the 1800s and the early 1900s, a Bureau of Pension administered Veterans’ pension programs; at different times this Bureau was variously under the jurisdiction of the War Department, the Navy Department, the Treasury Department, and the Interior Department. In 1914 a Bureau of War Risk Insurance was established under the Treasury Department to ensure American ships and cargoes against the hazards of carrying war materials to the Allies. When the United States formally entered World War I in 1917, the Bureau of War Risk Insurance was assigned the additional tasks of providing life insurance for American troops and administering Veterans’ and survivors’ benefits after the war. In 1918 a Federal Board of Vocational Education was established as an independent agency to provide vocational rehabilitation for disabled World War I Veterans based on eligibility as determined by the Bureau of War Risk Insurance. The Public Health Service was charged with responsibility for providing medical care for World War I Veterans. In 1921 the Veterans Bureau was established as an independent agency to consolidate all benefits for World War I Veterans (life insurance, disability and death compensation, vocational rehabilitation, medical care) under one agency. The Bureau of Pensions continued to separately exist to handle benefits for Veterans of previous wars and their survivors. The Veterans Administration was established in 1930, merging the Veterans Bureau and the Bureau of Pensions and finally bringing all Veterans’ benefits programs under the jurisdiction of a single agency.

Following World War II, the Veterans Administration grew to become the largest non-Cabinet agency in the Federal Government. On March 15, 1989, the Veterans Administration became a Cabinet-level agency, changing its name to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Administrator of Veterans Affairs became the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The new agency was composed of three primary sub-agencies, each headed by an Undersecretary: the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA); the Veterans Health Administration (VHA); and the National Cemetery Administration, plus a number of subsidiary offices and Secretariats, including the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, the Office of General Counsel, and the Office of the Inspector General.

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION (VBA) VBA administers all of the non-medical benefits programs for Veterans, dependents and survivors: the compensation and pension programs; vocational rehabilitation for disabled Veterans; various education and training assistance programs for Veterans, dependents and survivors; loan guaranty programs for Veterans and eligible surviving spouses; and a number of life insurance programs for Veterans. VBA also provides a burial allowance for eligible Veterans. 

VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (VHA) The Veterans Health Administration is home to the largest integrated health care system consisting of 153 medical centers, in addition to numerous community based outpatient clinics, community living centers, Vet Centers and Dormitories and Nursing Homes. Together these health care facilities provide comprehensive care to over 5.5 million* Veterans each year. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of the medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.

NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION (NCA) The National Cemetery Administration Honors Veterans with final resting places in national shrines and with lasting tributes that commemorate their service to our nation. NCA provides burial space for Veterans and their eligible family members. They maintain national cemeteries as national shrines, sacred to the honor and memory of those interred or memorialized there. NCA is also responsible for marking Veterans’ graves with a government-furnished headstone or marker and to provide Presidential Memorial Certificates in recognition of their service to a grateful nation. Finally, NCA is responsible for administering grants for establishing or expanding state Veterans’ cemeteries.

 

A Special Thanks to:

  • The National Museum of the United States Army

  • The National WWII Museum

  • Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs VSO Handbook

 

 

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WWI Pamphlets

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Founded in 1844 the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) sought to provide refuge and respite for young men during Europe’s Industrial Revolution. (1) The organization built up steam over time with new branches popping up all over the globe. This exhibit contains booklets that were published by the American YMCA and sent to young American soldiers fighting overseas during World War I. These booklets were meant to inform, entertain, and keep soldiers on the moral path while they were away from home. While most were published for the YMCA this collection also contains literature published by the U.S. Chaplain and advertising companies such as those for toothpaste brand Kolynos. 

 Since its founding, the YMCA has sought to provide asylum for young men. The mission of the organization did not change even when the world was at war. The YMCA sought to strengthen the minds, bodies, and faith of the young men fighting for the Allied powers. The booklets featured in this exhibit were part of their efforts to provide entertainment, recreation, and rest for soldiers in order to boost morale in a moral manner. They were also meant to provide spiritual support to the men who encountered combat. The YMCA wanted to encourage young American soldiers to hold onto their faith in spite of all the horrors they would experience during their time fighting overseas. The booklets displayed in this virtual exhibit were provided by Tom Wright after having purchased them from the John Powers Estate Auction in Jacksonville, IL in 2020.

1. “1800-1899,” Our History, The YMCA, 2022, accessed October 28, 2022,  https://www.ymca.org/who-we-are/our-history/founding-years.

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Coal Mining and Identity

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Coal mining was once the burning heart of the Illinois economy. However, since after the Second World War, the coal mining industry in Illinois has been in decline. Where once there were thousands of mines in operation, now there are dozens. Despite its reduced economic relevance for the state, the culture of coal mining lingers in the lives and memories of Illinois residents. More than just an occupation, coal mining touched every aspect of life from religion, to social class, to individual and community identity. 

This exhibit uses items from the 2024 History Harvest to tell the stories of coal miners here in Illinois, focusing heavily on how occupations create shared bonds of identity. Each item has something to say about the history of coal in Illinois and abroad, as industry connected the world, coal, one of its main fuels, connected people. A United Mine Workers Union card from 1898 offers an example of the convergence of organized labor and coal mining in communities that were often marginalized based on ethnicity. A coal miner’s leather wallet from 1918 filled with Catholic memorabilia indicates the degree to which coal mining and religious affiliation were intertwined. Two figurines made from Welsh coal connected miners across an ocean due to a shared identity and profession. The miner’s award box from Peabody Energy showed how miners celebrated their own when they were able to retire, and the gifts they chose to commemorate this occasion. The pipe from a long gone church organ shows the importance of faith and community to immigrant miners. The Mother Jones dinner program shows the impact of a national figure who forever impacted unions and the coal mining industry across the united states.

 

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