Ward Memorial Hall is an 1880s

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

building within the

Northwestern Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Historic District The Northwestern Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Historic District is a veterans' hospital located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with roots going back to the Civil War. Contributing property, Contributing buildings in the distri ...

, located in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. It is part of the Milwaukee Soldiers Home complex, designated Building No. 41, on the present day Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center grounds. The 900 seat

was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1984, as part of an effort to renovate and preserve it.

History

Ward Memorial Hall was built in 1881-82 during a period of expansion for the Northwestern Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers facilities, originally the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (1867−1873). with On its completion theatrical entertainment moved from the chapel in the 1869 Main Building. Prominent Milwaukee architect Henry C. Koch designed Ward Memorial Hall in the High Victorian

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and

Romanesque Revival style Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

s, with a theater/meeting room, commissary store, restaurant, and railroad passenger station.LOC−HABS: History and description of Ward Memorial Hall
/ref> This unusual combination of building uses was to serve the growing recreational needs of the Milwaukee Soldiers Home. It has a wide veranda wrapping around three sides. It is one of the oldest theaters in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. "Renaissance style" frescoes were designed by J. H. Harding and created under his supervision on the theater's ceiling. They was covered over by a barrel vaulted ceiling when the theater was expanded, but still remain. In 1888 a large stained glass window depicting General

U. S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

depicted astride his horse was donated by the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

, installed on second floor of the east façade, reconfiguring two preexisting windows. Gradually functions such as the train depot, post office, and store were moved to different structures and the theater facilities were expanded. In 1898 the theater space was entirely reconfigured to have a sloped floor, balcony, and boxes flanking the proscenium stage, and more fire exits. It was the Milwaukee Soldiers Home's venue for professional entertainments, including lectures, concerts, minstrel and theater companies, and regional

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

circuit productions. It has featured performers such as

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

Sophie Tucker Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was an American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertaine ...

, Ethel Merman, Nat King Cole,

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

, George Jessel,

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

, and Burns and Allen. After World War II, the theater gradually fell into disuse by resident veterans.

Conservation

From 1981 through 1992 the Milwaukee Players, a local theater company, used the theater for rehearsals and offices. A movement led by the Soldiers Home Foundation, Inc., the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

, and other groups began to raise funds to renovate the theater in the early 1980s. Milwaukee native and famous performer Wladziu "Walter" Liberace (1919-1987) offered limited help. When young in the 1920s he had performed at the theater, when visiting veterans with his mother. Ambitious fundraising efforts by the Soldiers Home Foundation floundered and currently Ward Memorial Hall sits vacant. The building is deteriorating, mainly due to water infiltration and lack of climate control. The Milwaukee Soldiers Home's vacant buildings, including Ward Memorial Hall, are on the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

List of 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. National Trust for Historic Preservation: National Soldiers Home Historic District
NTHP List of 11 Most Endangered Historic Places . accessed 12.1.2015.

References

External links

HABS-Historic American Buildings Survey: Ward Memorial Hall, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Northwestern Branch
— ''images + historic info''.
National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP): Milwaukee Soldiers HomeNTHP: video of the Milwaukee Soldiers Home, National Soldiers Home Historic District
{{commons category, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Northwestern Branch, position=left Theatres in Milwaukee Theatres completed in 1882 Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin 1882 establishments in Wisconsin Historic American Buildings Survey in Wisconsin 1880s architecture in the United States Gothic Revival architecture in Wisconsin Romanesque Revival architecture in Wisconsin Victorian architecture in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee

History

Conservation

See also

References

External links