Louisiana in World War II Teacher Workshop

Visit the Museum for a resource-packed workshop focusing on strategies for teaching middle and high school students about the role Louisiana and its citizens played during World War II. The program will kick off with a guided tour of the Museum’s special exhibit, The Pelican State Goes to War: Louisiana in World War II, followed by a session introducing innovative ideas for helping students analyze Louisiana-related documents, photos, and other primary sources.

Lunch will be accompanied by a short program describing the war’s impact on Louisiana foodways during the war. All participants will receive a published curriculum guide, including locally relevant primary sources perfect for use in grades 7–12.

The National WWII Museum invites all former Higgins Industries employees and their families to the Museum for a commemorative reunion event and panel discussion. Family members of Andrew Higgins, including his daughter and granddaughter, will be present. Louisiana-area Home Front workers and their families are also invited to join this special salute to their service during World War II. 

Biographer Jerry Strahan will join Andrew Higgins’s granddaughter Gayle Higgins Jones, historian Gerald Meyer, who worked with local students in Nebraska to build a monument to Higgins, and Jimmy Duckworth, who oversaw the building of the Museum’s Higgins Boat. The panel concludes with a rousing rendition of The Higgins March, first performed during wartime, and brought back to life by the Museum’s Victory Belles.

Higgins Reunion Day is presented by The Alta and John Franks Foundation.

Schedule:

10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Higgins Boat Access in Louisiana Memorial Pavilion

Higgins Hands-on Activities in Kushner Restoration Pavilion STEM Innovation Gallery

11:00 a.m. – Noon
Panel Discussion in US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center

Noon – 1:00 p.m.
Book Signing with Jerry Strahan in US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center