Re: Soldiers' Home for Invalids 1916
-
In reply to:
Soldiers' Home for Invalids 1916
Dennis Doyle 9/05/08
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with alp.
The Government Hospital for the Insane (GHI) is what is now known as Saint Elizabeth's Hospital and was a different entity than the Soldiers Home of Washington, DC (aka the Old Soldiers, now known as the Armed Forces Retirement Home).GHI was founded in 1855 to provide care for the insane of the Army, Navy, and District of Columbia.During the Civil War, wounded soldiers were reluctant to say that they were in an insane asylum and referred to it as Saint Elizabeth's, which was the old colonial name for the land on which it stands.In 1916, the government formally changed the name to Saint Elizabeth's Hospital.
In 1882 Congress passed legislation authorizing/directing the transfer of insane persons from the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (of which there were 10 branches, including the one in Milwaukee) to GHI, which is probably why your soldier was transferred there.
More Replies:
-
Re: Soldiers' Home for Invalids 1916
Dennis Doyle 9/07/08
-
Re: Soldiers' Home for Invalids 1916
Susan Salus 9/08/08
-
Re: Soldiers' Home for Invalids 1916