Featured Alumni

Alan G. Gauthreaux (B.A., 1992, M.A., 2007)

Current Profession: National Outreach Coordinator, National World War II Museum

Alan G. Gauthreaux began his college career more than twenty years ago when he first attended the University of New Orleans in the spring of 1987. “I began college without an idea of what the heck I wanted to do. By the time I made up my mind, there were only three History courses left: 100, 1001, and 1002. I said to my self, `well, I must be majoring in History.’” Alan always expressed a love in History from a very early age as his maternal grandfather, Alvin A. LeBlanc, used to read to him from Time-Life historical books. But he never thought he would make a career out of it.

After a tour of duty in the military, serving the public good as a correctional officer in Orleans Parish, and working as a building material specialist at the Home Depot on Clearview Parkway in the early 1980s, Alan sought more than just cutting wood and picking out hinges. He enrolled at the University of New Orleans in 1987 and graduated in December 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in History, with minors in English and Paralegal Studies.

After graduation, Alan went to work for several law firms in the New Orleans and Metro areas until one day he realized the volatile nature of the legal field. After taking several courses at UNO at night at the end of 1999, Alan went to work as a teacher in the Jefferson Parish Public School System in February of 2000 at West Jefferson High School. “I never had any educational training whatsoever; I just knew I wanted to teach in some capacity. They (the administration) just threw me in the classroom and expected great things…I didn’t want to disappoint them.”

After receiving his certification in Social Studies and English, Alan became the department chair for social studies at Harry S. Truman Middle School in Marrero. Taking a sabbatical in January of 2007, Alan finished his thesis and graduated with a master’s in History from UNO. In the fall of that year, Alan left teaching due to a conflict of educational goals and answered an advertisement for a National Outreach Coordinator at the National World War II Museum.

“I knew I was right for this position the minute I finished the first interview.” Two months after that initial meeting, Alan was hired at the new National Outreach Coordinator in October 2007.

Alan has contributed a great deal to the position and it has benefitted the museum in so many ways. “I used my stage experience with the videoconferencing the same way I did when I taught History. It works most of the time, but then sometimes there are little glitches in the presentation which calls for adlibbing at times. I enjoy the job immensely and I have met so many interesting people. It was well worth the change.”

Alan informs us that his master’s thesis, “An Inhospitable Land: Anti-Italian Sentiment and Violence in Louisiana, 1891-1924,” will be published by Louisiana History in the near future. In addition, Alan plans to expand the work into a book as soon as possible. He also authored “Hell On The Mississippi: The Defense of Forts Jackson and St. Phillip,” which appeared in the November 2006 edition of Civil War Times Illustrated. Alan is also researching military tribunals during World War I.

“My education at UNO, both as an undergraduate and graduate gave me the confidence to study, research, and write about various historical subjects. In my present position, my education has given me the confidence to lead into different directions without casting doubt on my ability as an historian. I owe this confidence to the outstanding professors of the History Department at the University of New Orleans: Drs. Allan Millett, Mary Mitchell, Raphael Cassimere, Günter Bischof, and Joe Caldwell.”

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