Michael D. Wynne

Although I am asked to include my own biography here, my goal has always been to highlight the great people and fascinating history of the south, in particular Louisiana. Nonetheless, I will include brief highlights of my preservation career in hopes that it will serve as a role model and inspiration to all others on the importance of history and preservation/preservationists to the people of Louisiana, as well as to the world.

My earliest interest in history and preservation in my birth city of Lafayette, Louisiana probably focused on stamp and coin collecting in the early 1960's. My father, a second generation stamp collector, was pushing me to become a philatelist, but I seem to more lean towards becoming a numismatist, although I have enjoyed conducting both hobbies immensely over the past five and a half decades. Having also spent a great deal of time with my maternal grandmother, the late Anna B. Whipp of Opelousas, in those formative years, I also became very interested in all forms of history, especially oral history, and historic memorabilia. I often listened to the stories of my grandmother's relations and friends regarding World War I, the Civil War, and how life was like in the 19th and early 20th century. This became not only my primary interest in saving history, but also my beginning interest in genealogy.

Before I was even ten years old, I started saving memorabilia of the past from both of my family and of the world around me. I collected so many things actively in those early years including, but not limited to: books, match covers, license plates, autographs, old paper and photographs, letters, coins, paper money and stamps, I guess pretty much everything a young boy could afford and obtain. I would save my allowances and lawn-cutting monies to both buy and also trade for items. But during early years, probably the most important outcome of all of this was what I learned so much overall about history, the art of collecting memorabilia, and most importantly, the knowledge gained on preservation and promotion of history. I learned that these "old things" were fragile and needed proper care so they would last forever so I learned all I could from any source available, mostly the experts in their fields, on how to care and preserve historic items. I soon became somewhat of an expert on both collecting and preservation on many areas and was soon giving talks and writing articles on everything from the rationing system of World War II to obsolete Louisiana currency of the mid 19th century. I even received some accolades in my youth on my expertise on this later field and prided myself on having one of the largest collections of Louisiana obsolete currency in Louisiana by only age 16!

In 1972, because of my interest in the local Lafayette Museum, the curator, Josephine Wiggins, appointed me as Assistant Curator for the museum. Aside from my giving tours, I also helped recruit items for the display cases in the museum. From this first experience with a museum, I not only learned almost everything about the many facets, and difficulties, of running a museum, but began a half century career serving as a docent for numerous museums as well as serving on their boards of directorships over the museums themselves. In this later matter, I was able to provide my experience on how to run a museum right and handle artifacts which often surprised people much, much older than myself. Also, during these teenage years, I began to better focus my historic interests in particular aspects of history. Although I will always be interested in all areas of history, subjects such as Huey Long and Louisiana politics, author Lyle Saxon, family history, and Louisiana history became of greatest interest to me. In 1974, by request of a New Orleans television station, I recorded a talk on New Orleans historic preservation that was played repeatedly by the television station. That was 45 years ago (2019) and was one of my first triumphs in preservation. I was just 17 years old then! I learned then that how history and preservation is presented to the public is almost as important as how both are treated scholastically.

One of my great mistakes was not formally entering a career in history and preservation. My father wanted me to become a medical doctor and my parents were not happy with my choosing history instead. But due to a variety of events, as well as their influence, I actually chose not to enter history as a career, but instead entered law enforcement. I am proud to have served in law enforcement for almost four decades, but wonder how different my life would have been if I had chosen a field of history instead. But even with a career away from history, I was quickly gathering a reputation as an expert collector, historian, speaker, and especially as a preservationist. This lead me to service on many museum boards, hosting many historical symposiums, and serving on a record seven state commissions related to history and culture. Probably the culmination of all of these various state commissions was my service as the Vice Chairman of the Louisiana Statehood Bicentennial Commission (2008-2012) and as Vice Chairman of the Louisiana Commemorative Coin Commission (2009-2011). And probably the greatest event for me among many events was my giving the official speech before a televised joint session of the Louisiana Legislature, flanked by all living Louisiana Governors and many other dignitaries and celebrities, on our 200th statehood anniversary, on April 30, 2012.

Since my so-called retirement from my career in law enforcement as the District Administrator over the Louisiana State Probation and Parole Office over six parishes and a staff of fifty, in January 2016, I am busier now than ever before. Aside from my volunteer service to many organizations, I have published eight books (so far) related to history and preservation, with more books expected in 2019, give frequent talks before community groups on various facets of Louisiana history and preservation, and writing two columns for the monthly magazine CENLA FOCUS. But most importantly, I share my knowledge and expertise on all facets of historical preservation with various organizations, museums, and the public, especially the younger generations just beginning in the field of preservation. I firmly believe that we are responsible to bring our glorious past forward to future generations to learn from and enjoy. I look forward in my waning years to contribute to historical preservation to my community, my state, and my nation in anyway that I am called upon to contribute. I hope you enjoy my books!