A Love of Museums Takes Grad from Corrections to Curation

Published February 24, 2025

Wow! …And why?

Since his childhood in Detroit, Michigan, Shaun Gallagher has been deeply moved by the emotional power of museums. Now, at 42, with a life rich in experiences that could fill a museum of their own, he has completed his MA in Museum Studies at Johns Hopkins University. His personal journey, marked by the profound impact of museums, has led him to aspire to a career in these institutions that have always resonated with him.

“The first experience that I can remember as a kid was going to the Holocaust Museum in Michigan,” Gallagher said. “That certainly was not a joyful experience, but it had a huge impact on me. I was obviously not thinking as a child about the preservation efforts or the organization of the collections and exhibits, I was just looking at all the stuff. It was ‘wow! and why?’ When I went to the Henry Ford Museum as a kid as part of my annual school trip, I was so intrigued by the experience, and I always came away with so many questions. ‘Why does this car look like this? Why is this train so big?’”

Gallagher’s love for the Indiana Jones series also deepened his appreciation for the value of artifacts. “It belongs in a museum.”

“I always wanted to be Indiana Jones when I was growing up and that mantra really stuck with me,” he said. “I never really chased that dream until now when I finally took a self-inventory and realized that museums have always, and still do, mean a lot of me. What museums provide for society and communities is parallel to none. I hope that more people continue to recognize that.”

Enrolling in the JHU professional program was a long cry from the work experience that led him down this path. Relocating to Florida in high school, Gallagher first considered a career in computer science but discovered quickly that math and programming were not his strong suits. In 2005, he signed on as a correctional officer at the Lowell Correctional Institution, a 2,500- inmate, maximum-security female prison operated by the Florida Department of Corrections in Ocala, Fl. The facility even housed several inmates on death row. He stayed in the position for 10 years.

“It was probably when I was doing my third double shift of the week that I actually decided to think about what I really wanted to do in life,” said Gallagher. “I always loved history, so I decided to pursue a degree at the University of Central Florida.”

A turn at teaching eventually led him back to his love of museums. He took a leap of faith and enrolled in the Johns Hopkins program.

“Enrolling at Johns Hopkins has one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I am proud to have completed this program,” he said. “I learned that I am good at time management and tenacity. I proved, through this program, that I can do anything that I set my mind to.”

Gallagher points to the outstanding faculty as well as to the two-week in-person seminar as assets of the program. His seminar had him venture to Pittsburgh, Pa., with 14 students from the program for a behind-the-scenes experience to learn about the inner workings of museums. In addition to making personal connections, the group met with curators and directors and personnel in museums across the city.

“When I officially submitted the last assignment on the last day, it hit me that the program was over,” said Gallagher, who hopes to one day come full circle and land a job, perhaps as a digital archivist or curator, back at the Henry Ford Museum in his beloved Michigan. “The JHU faculty were great and brought all their different experiences to the classes. I don’t know where I will end up, but I know that Johns Hopkins has prepared me and put me on the right path to return to something I have always enjoyed.”