If you’ve taken a tour, played museum trivia, attended a program, or walked a cemetery tour, you’ve encountered the work of Erik Wright. Since November of 2018, he has served as the education specialist at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. Erik artfully redirected in-person museum events during the pandemic to a successful slate of virtual programs that continues out of demand and not necessity.

Erik grew up in southern California. As a young adult he realized the west-coast punk scene was taking him nowhere. He said, “I knew I’d either be dead or in jail if I didn’t do something, so I did something.” That something was enlisting in the US Army. Erik served from June of 1990 to October of 1998. He saw action in Desert Storm and Desert Shield in an M1A1 tank. Erik is extremely proud of his son, Captain Wright, who has carried on the tradition of army service in the armored division.

The army enlistment provided Erik experiences and skills that he would learn nowhere else, and his life took a new direction. After his discharge at the rank of sergeant, he used the G.I. Bill to attend college to study history and social science with the intent of being a college professor.

The need for money often gets in the way of our dreams as it did for Erik. He ran out of money studying in Europe and returned home. “While I was looking for a job, I started volunteering at the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. That museum offered him a job shortly thereafter. He’s worked in museums ever since. Before beginning with the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in November of 2018, he worked with the US Navy museum systems at Great Lakes, Illinois.

Obviously, he enjoys his work. “I like to educate people about military history. That’s an eye-opening experience on most days. Most people don’t know their history. When you start to explain events that have consequences and reverberations today. It’s fun to see people’s light bulbs go off when they understand why that matters. ‘Oh yeah, I never thought of that.’ I love seeing that expression on people’s faces.”

Erik’s experience in the service continues with how he views the role of education at the museum. He wants you to know that, “The education department is far more accessible than people would think. We are open to many ideas for both with programming and touring, and so if there is any unique thing that you would like to do at the museum, contact us and chances are we can probably do it for you.” Give him a challenge.

Army Tanker Turned Museum Educator: This Is Erik Wright was written by Jen Stevenson, Marketing Manager at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.

The article was first published in the Summer 2022 issue of The Bugle.