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History of the Veterans Affairs Caregiver Support Program

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is charged with fulfilling the nation’s promise to care for those who have served in our nation’s military, and for their families, caregivers, and survivors. In fulfillment of one aspect of that promise, the Department has developed and administers a program of caregiver support for caregivers of eligible veterans. The program’s mission is “to promote the health and well-being of family caregivers who care for our Nation’s Veterans, through education, resources, support, and services.” This article presents a history of the programs origins and expansion through 2023.

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Precarious Learners: Race, Status and the Making of Virgin Islands Education from 1917-1970

When the United States purchased the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) from Denmark in 1917, the change in the islands’ political status profoundly impacted the educational options afforded to those residing in the territory. Being new subjects of a U.S. empire primarily concerned with preventing enemy expansion in the Caribbean basin both improved and complicated Virgin Islanders’ access to comprehensive education. For those residing in the U.S. Virgin Islands, American citizenship both exposed and exacerbated the precarious conditions of learning and belonging in a U.S. territory. Warped by a history of racialized domination and economic deprivation, education for Black Virgin Islanders has long been fraught by the conditions of precarious citizenship. 

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West Virginia Colored Orphans Home (1899-1956)

By Sarah H. Shepherd, 2022. Black politician and businessman, Charles McGhee (1858-1937), was serving as a pastor in Bluefield, West Virginia when he was confronted by the lack of support for Black orphans after the death of his brother-in-law in a mining accident. In the Jim Crow South, few state resources, if any, were dedicated to African Americans. Black orphans were not admitted to white orphanages and faced significant hardships. McGhee founded an orphanage and school for these children.

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Colored Conventions Movement

From Colored Conventions Project, 2022. Starting in 1830 and continuing until well after the Civil War, free, freed and self-emancipated Blacks came together in state and national political conventions. Tens of thousands of Black men and women from different walks of life traveled to attend meetings publicly advertised as “Colored Conventions.” where they strategized about how they might achieve educational, labor, and legal justice.

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John J. Smallwood and the Temperance, Industrial and Collegiate Institute

John J. Smallwood and the Temperance, Industrial and Collegiate Institute by James I. Randall October 10, 2022 John Jefferson Smallwood (September 19, 1863–September 29, 1912), founder and president of the Temperance, Industrial and Collegiate Institute in Claremont, Va., achieved much before his untimely passing at the age of 49 in 1912. Despite slavery before, and…

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Fellowship of Reconciliation USA

The Fellowship of Reconciliation USA (FOR-USA) was founded in 1915 by pacifists opposed to U.S. entry into World War I. Open to men, women, and people of all classes and races, its membership would include Jane Addams, Bishop Paul Jones, Grace Hutchins, A. J. Muste, and Bayard Rustin.

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United War Work Campaign. November 11-18, 1918

The United War Work Campaign. November 11-18, 1918   The United War Work Campaign was a a one-week fundraising effort during World War I. At the request of President Woodrow Wilson, seven voluntary organizations — the National War Work Council of the YMCA, the War Work Council of the YWCA, the National Catholic War Council…

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LGBTQIA+ Health Disparities

LGBTQIA+ Health Disparities  By: Laura Crouch   Editor’s Note:  LGBTQIA+ is an umbrella acronym that generally stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (and/or questioning), intersex and asexual. The acronym is designed to be as inclusive as possible with the “+” indicating any person who does not identify specifically with any of the listed terms but…

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Red Summer, Race Riots, and White Supremacist Terror – Sources

As the influenza pandemic of 1918 began to subside, U.S. cities in 1919 saw an explosion of racial violence frequently described as “race riots,” “Negro riots” or “race wars.” Violent events such as those in Elaine, Arkansas, the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Colfax, Louisiana are now named race massacres. It should be noted that, while 1919 was particularly violent, Red Summer was not the only year of terror directed against Black neighborhoods.

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