Preserved Spaces: Veterans Day 2022

In July of 1866, Union soldier Benjamin Drummond became the first admitted patient at the newly constructed U.S. Naval Hospital on Pennsylvania Avenue SE.

Three years earlier, Drummond had escaped a Confederate prison camp after being wounded in a naval battle off the coast of Texas. He was treated in a New Orleans hospital before re-enlisting in the Navy. During his second term of service, the gunshot wound in his leg re-opened, and he was sent to Saint Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C. Throughout the early period of the Civil War, Saint Elizabeth's (originally named the Government Hospital for the Insane) served as a temporary treatment site for soldiers. Injured Civil War soldiers began referring to the hospital as "Saint Elizabeth's" in their letters home, as they were wary of being stigmatized or alarming their families by stating that they were in the "Government Hospital for the Insane."

An artificial limb manufacturing shop on the premises of Saint Elizabeth's provided amputees with free prosthetics and helped individuals learn to use them.

While little of Drummond's treatment is described, records from the time describe him as "colored." While it is unclear whether or not the U.S. Naval Hospital enforced segregation, Saint Elizabeth's Hospital had segregated spaces for Black and White patients. It is likely that some level of segregation occurred within the Naval Hospital as well.

Benjamin Drummond largely disappears from the historical narrative after his discharge from the hospital and the Navy in 1868. He received a government pension for his honorable service, but it is unclear where he went following his treatment.

Today, both the Government Hospital for the Insane (now Saint Elizabeth's Hospital) and the U.S. Naval Hospital (now referred to as the Old Naval Hospital), are recognized as important historical sites in the city. The sweeping campus of Saint Elizabeth's is designated as a Historic District, and is one of DC's National Historic Landmarks. The Old Naval Hospital, once neglected and in a state of disrepair, now serves as the Hill Center, an important community center in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and is listed in both the DC Inventory of Historic Sites and the National Register of Historic Places.?Both locations continue to offer valuable resources to DC residents, carrying forth their original purpose of public service.

For more information about Saint Elizabeth's Historic District and the Old Naval Hospital, check out the DC Historic Sites webpage.

For information regarding current programs and classes offered at the Hill Center, visit the Hill Center's webpage.

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