The roots of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum are deeply linked to the desire of Wisconsin’s Civil War veterans to preserve the legacy of their accomplishments and the memory of their comrades. After the Civil War, the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice lived on in the minds of the survivors of that terrible event. They represented all walks of life and came from every corner of the state.
In late spring of 1866, Union veterans of the Civil War formed the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR ) in Illinois, an organization for fellowship, support for veterans, and education. At its peak, the GAR had 410,000 members of all races and included two women and it became an influential force in state and national politics.
The Wisconsin Department of the GAR was founded on June 7, 1866, just weeks after the order formed in Illinois. A few days later on June 10, veterans in Madison formed the Cassius Fairchild Post #1 as the first in Wisconsin. Due to administrative issues with the Wisconsin Department of the GAR, the post was rechartered in 1880 as Post #11 and later renamed the C.C. Washburn Post in 1883. After the passing of Lucius Fairchild in 1896, the post was renamed again as the Lucius Fairchild Post #11.
On the battlefield, flags signal place and position. Oftentimes, the communities from where Union regiments originated raised funds and sewed their own battle flags. After the Civil War the flags of the 53 Wisconsin regiments were revered as markers of a nation’s progress, memorials to comrades lost, and points of pride for the people of Wisconsin. These flags were so important that preserving them became law on March 15, 1870. Because of this foresight, the battle flags remain the core collection of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.
A news article from the Wisconsin State Journal – July 20, 1895 reports, “The center of the capitol rotunda is now a place of much interest to GAR men and others who take an interest in the history of the war. All the flags carried by the Fifty-second Wisconsin regiments in the war, with several captured from the rebels, have been take from the quartermaster general’s office and tastefully arranged in eight new glass cases bordering the rotunda. Each flag is marked with a card showing the regiment to which it belonged; all the flags of each regiment are grouped together, and a placard giving the date of organization of the regiment, the battles in which it was engaged, and other details, are being printed and will be in place in a day or two. The stuffed body of Old Abe, the war eagle, has been brought up from the basement and placed in a glass case in the center of the rotunda and a card will give his history also….”
In the early summer of 1900 The Milwaukee Journal reported that the name of the Seventh Wisconsin regiment was cut out of a battle flag which was on display in the Capitol rotunda. In response, the battle flags were moved to the newly constructed State Historical Society building near the university campus.
“The 192 flags, carried in the war of the rebellion and the Spanish American war, which have been the center of interest in the capitol rotunda for some time, were this afternoon removed to the new library building, to pass into the keeping of the State Historical Society. Adjutant General Boardman issued the order to Quartermaster General Solliday to deliver them to the society, and take Secretary Thwaites receipt therefore, and Gen Solliday and Assistant Quartermaster Williams have been busy today arranging for the transfer. The historical society will place the relics in air-tight cases where they may be preserved indefinitely. A detail of old soldiers from the capitol escorted the flags to their new home.” Wisconsin State Journal, December 26, 1900.
Little more than two months after the battle flags transferred to the Wisconsin Historical Society building near the University of Wisconsin campus, debate in the Assembly began on a bill introduced by GAR members to return the battle flags and relics to the capitol. The Assembly had received “petitions from scores of army posts from every part of the state…asking that the bill be passed.”
“Where they (the flags) should repose is a question for the soldiers to decide” the paper reported David Evans, Jr saying to Assemblyman Keen of Milwaukee.
“Assemblyman Coapman demanded that the flags be placed where they can be seen. ‘When a veteran of the civil war (sic) comes to the city,’ said he,’ let it be possible for him to take his friends to the capitol and say: Beneath this flag I stood when a solid shot tore that rent in its folds.’” Wisconsin State Journal, February 27, 1901.
In April of 1901 the Wisconsin legislature passed Act 125 which reads in part:
“AN ACT to provide for a memorial hall in honor of Wisconsin soldiers and sailors who served in the army or navy of the United States in the civil war of 1861 to 1865 or any subsequent war, and to provide for a suitable place or places for the care of relics and mementoes of said wars and making an appropriation therefor. And providing for the return of battle flags to the capitol building.”
Honoring the service of our veterans and preserving their stories in a dedicated space is now law thanks to the advocacy of Civil War veterans led by Hosea Rood.
Act 125 also ensured the return of the battle flags to the capitol building. A committee planned their return on the 40th anniversary of the acceptance of the Madison Guard into service of the Union Army. On April 16th, the flags would be marched from the historical society building on campus, in the hands of many of the same men who carried the flags into battle, to their place in the State Capitol Rotunda. Accompanied by the university band, university cadets, the governor’s guard, and the Lucius Fairchild GAR post, the parade would conclude with a reception ceremony with Governor La Follette and other dignitaries.
Unfortunately, rainstorms cancelled the parade, and the flags were returned the next day to the Capitol without the planned fanfare. As reported in the Wisconsin State Journal that day, “With the flags in the capital (sic), the weather wil (sic) not interfere with the ceremonis (sic) next time.”
Hosea W. Rood, the first custodian, or caretaker, of the GAR Memorial Hall, was a Civil War veteran, teacher, and author. Rood began his state service with the 12th Wisconsin Infantry in 1861 under Col. George E. Bryant. He mustered out at the rank of captain July 16, 1865. After serving as an educator in several Wisconsin communities, then assistant quartermaster general of the Wisconsin department of the GAR, he was appointed custodian of the GAR Memorial Hall. He led from 1901-1924, building and rebuilding the collections. Rood also traversed the state teaching citizens the meaning of an intelligent love of country as he also held the position of “Patriotic Instructor” from 1906-1929, and again from 1931-1933.
“The last lingering desire of these old veterans, so far as their country is concerned, is that they may leave it enshrined in the hearts of the young men and women who are so being educated as to become leaders of thought and purpose in their day and generation; and that they shall transmit an intelligent love of country to those of generations yet to come.” – Hosea Rood, 1910
In September 1901 the GAR Memorial Hall opened on the second floor of the south wing of the Wisconsin State Capitol. General George E. Bryant, superintendent of public property, oversaw the project.
The Memorial Hall served as the headquarters for the Wisconsin Department of the GAR, a meeting space, and “a depository for such war relics, literature and pictures as may teach the sons and daughters of our republic the value of our free institutions.” It is a “modest memorial hall…consecrated to the teaching of lessons of patriotism” where everyone is welcome. – H.W. Rood, Wisconsin State Journal, September 3, 1901.
On February 27, 1904, an early-morning fire destroyed the State Capitol Building. After a 20-hour battle, only the dome, part of the north wing, and a stone facade remained. Ignited by a gas jet in a second-floor closet, the blaze consumed everything in the GAR Memorial Hall, including the taxidermy of Old Abe. The heroic acts of a visitor from Chicago and others rescued the precious Civil War battle flags on display in the rotunda. Following the fire, Custodian Rood again called for citizens to donate relics to the Hall.
The reconstruction of the Wisconsin State Capitol Building was completed in August of 1917 and was dedicated after the conclusion of World War I. The new GAR Memorial Hall located in Room 413 North was dedicated fittingly on Flag Day, June 14, 1918. Colonel J.A. Watrous gave the dedicatory address at an evening ceremony which included a parade around Capitol Square and several musical performances. Once again Hosea Rood and company returned to the business of honoring their comrades and educating our young people.
As Hosea Rood wrote about the GAR Memorial Hall when it first opened, “…this memorial hall in the capitol (should) be consecrated to the teaching of lessons of patriotism. In it should be gathered such tokens of our struggle for freedom and humanity as it will tell to all who look upon them, especially the young, something of the cost of what today seem to us very common blessings in liberty and good government.” Wisconsin State Journal, April 15, 1901.
With the return to Wisconsin of more than 332,200 men and women who served during World War II, the state legislature passed Act 580 in the summer of 1945 to address their unique needs under a newly created Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA). WDVA was charged with “providing educational aid, economic aid, medical, hospital or other remedial care for World War II veterans and their dependents.” The act also transferred the responsibilities of maintaining the GAR Memorial Hall to WDVA.
The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs opposed a 1955 attempt by certain legislators to absorb the GAR Memorial Hall space and transfer its display function as well as its collections to the Wisconsin Historical Society. An avalanche of protest from veterans groups resulted in the bill not making it out of committee. In February 1957, Governor Vernon Thompson recommended in his executive budget that the Hall be moved from the Capital Building to the Wisconsin Historical Society building near the UW campus.
In November of 1957, Act 678 created the Veterans Memorial Commission, a body to approve any proposed modifications to the state’s veteran memorials. The act ensured the Hall’s tenure in the Capitol Building.
Although the Civil War veterans had passed on, the GAR Memorial Hall continued to be a regular stop for visitors to the Capitol Building. The popularity of the Memorial Hall and resulting wear led WDVA Secretary John Moses (1962-82) in 1963 to call for funds to be appropriated to renovate the space and catalogue the collection. With funding and approval by the Veterans Memorial Commission, the GAR Memorial Hall was closed to the public in the autumn of 1964. Wisconsin Historical Society employees assisted with the collection and refurbishing exhibits.
After space renovations, exhibit redesigns and cataloging of the collections, Governor Warren Knowles joined WDVA Secretary John Moses and other dignitaries at the rededication of the GAR Memorial Hall on June 2, 1965.
New exhibits in the Hall included a diorama of the Battle of Gettysburg and depictions of the soldiers’ experiences of the Civil War alongside artifacts that enhanced their story. A replica of Old Abe kept watch in a room where the walls were lined with the revered battle flags in glass cases.
As Wisconsin State Journal reporter, William Witt, wrote, “Madison need no longer be ashamed of its Civil War Museum tucked away on the fourth floor of the Capitol.”
Secretary Moses hired a professional curator and a staff assistant in 1970 as the exhibit function of the GAR Memorial Hall became its main activity. Following the systematic cataloging of historic artifacts, the American Association of Museums (AAM) accredited the GAR Memorial Hall Museum in 1974. AAM accreditation results only when museums meet established standards of operation. Attendance figures reflected the popularity of the museum as visitation averaged 80,000 per year for over a decade, the highest attendance of all Madison museums.
When John Maurer became Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs in 1985, he worked diligently on an agreement with legislative leaders and Governor Anthony Earl whereby the GAR Memorial Hall museum would ask to leave the Capitol and acquire space for a new veterans museum adjacent to the Capitol Building. The proposed museum would include the stories of veterans from the Civil War to present and allow for state-of-the-art exhibits.
The GAR Memorial Hall, informally known as the Civil War museum, closed to the public on November 10, 1989. Shortly thereafter, Governor Tommy Thompson and WDVA Secretary John Mauer announced they’d found a location for a new “all wars” museum at 30 W. Mifflin Street.
In July of 1990, work started on the new museum space across the street from the home of the original GAR Memorial Hall. Structural renovations were completed in December. Work began on the museum interior and exhibit fixtures in 1991. Some 20,000 square feet of space was available for the displays, gift store, artifact storage, museum offices, and mechanicals. Ten thousand square feet were set aside for exhibits, ranging from the Civil War to the Persian Gulf. The state’s best-known exhibit design team was contracted to produce the displays.
On June 6, 1993 the Wisconsin Veterans Museum (WVM) opened in its current location. The grand opening event drew 7,716 spectators, after a tremendous publicity campaign which involved the Governor’s office as well as legislative leaders, the department Secretary and his office, an outpouring of support from veterans groups, the attention of a diverse group of media personalities, and Jesse Brown-Secretary of the Federal Veterans Administration.
The GAR Memorial Hall had evolved to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, now charged with covering the stories of Wisconsinites who served anytime from the Civil War to the Persian Gulf eras and beyond. Within the 20,000 sq foot renovated building were three dedicated gallery spaces, a gift store, artifact storage, museum offices, and mechanical systems.
In October of 1998 the museum staff began offering a Talking Spirits Cemetery Tour at Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison. What began as an afternoon tour through the Madison park is now a week-long production complete with vignettes by actors portraying some of the cemetery’s most interesting spirits. Cemetery Tours continue in this its 28th year.
With an influx of papers, photos, maps, and books from the Wisconsin National Guard Museum at Volk Field transferred to the vast holdings of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, a new Research Center opened on the third floor of the building. The Research Center improved public access to the museum archives and professional research staff.
The Wisconsin Veterans Museum became a Smithsonian Affiliate in May of 2014. Affiliates are collaborators on many of the Smithsonian’s strategic priorities, adding content and expertise to national initiatives to amplify the power of the stories we tell and reach broader and more diverse audiences. There is a network of more than 200 Smithsonian Affiliate organizations across the nation plus Puerto Rico and Panama. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is one of two in the state; the other being the Kenosha Public Museum.
The State Archive Preservation Facility or SAPF, pronounced by staff as “safe,” is a purpose-built, state-of-the-art space designed to care for Wisconsin’s historical artifacts and archives. The State of Wisconsin completed construction in 2017 and in 2018 the Wisconsin Veterans Museum moved its collections storage from the basement of the museum building on Capitol Square to the SAPF. The 188,000 square foot building is shared with the Wisconsin State Historical Society, the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, the State Capitol, and the Executive Residence for housing all sorts of historical collections not in use elsewhere.
After a rigorous review of museum operations, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum received reaccreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). Since it was first accredited in 1974, the museum continues to meet National Standards and Best Practices for U.S. Museums and remains a member of a community of institutions that have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to excellence. AAM accreditation is a testament to the care, conscience, and commitment of the museum staff to Wisconsin’s veterans.
On April 5, 2026 the museum celebrates 125 years of preserving and sharing the stories of Wisconsinites who have served our nation and communities in the armed forces from the Civil War to present.
The Wisconsin Veterans Museum continues the charge the Civil War veterans who founded the GAR Memorial Hall to preserve and honor the memory of their service and sacrifice. The museum staff proudly reports that today the museum holds the third largest collection of veteran oral histories in the nation – behind the Library of Congress and the National WWII Museum, cares for more than 27,000 objects and preserves nearly 6,200 archival materials. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum continues to be an educational activity of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.