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.