#MyParkStory Telling Great Stories about American History, Culture, Art and Nature - John Donoghue, Gateway Arch National Park

at the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial

Why did you join the National Park Service? I became a park ranger because I grew up next to a NPS unit (Gateway National Recreation Area. Sandy Hook Unit) I also visited many historic sites run by the NPS. My family often went to places like the Statue of Liberty and Independence Hall. I convinced my family to go to many American civil war battlefields as a kid, many of which were NPS units. I always loved history and would study it in community college and at Rutgers University. At the end of my schooling, I decided to try to work for the National Park Service. I have never looked back and have been doing so ever since.

What do you do at the Gateway Arch? I am a supervisory park ranger for the Division of Museum Services and Interpretation. My rangers and guides are the ones who give talks/tours and other educational and interpretive programs. They work at the top of the Arch, in the museum under the Arch and the information desks in the visitor center. As a supervisor, I help make sure the visitor service part of the park is running smoothly and making sure that the visitors have a good experience and give them the opportunities to learn something as well.

How long have you worked here? I have worked at the Gateway Arch since December of 2017. I also worked as a seasonal park guide the summer of 2003 at the park when the park was still called the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. This position had me doing some of the same things that the employees I now mange do now.

Have you worked at other National Park Service Sites? Yes, I have. Since 2002, I have worked in the field of interpretation at a number of parks. In the summer of 2002 I worked in Philadelphia PA at Independence National Historical Park as a park guide. I gave Liberty Bell talks and worked in the historic buildings in the park like Independence Hall. In the summer of 2003, I worked as a park guide at the Arch giving talks and tours in the old Museum of Westward Expansion. I also worked at the top of the Arch telling visitors about the Arch and the view. From Jan 2004- April 2005 I worked in Atlanta GA at the Martin Luther King Jr National Historical Park as a park guide giving tours of the home Dr King was born in and lived 12 years of his life in. I also gave talks at the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church about Dr King's family and community. In May of 2005 - January 2007 I took a park guide position at the Statue of Liberty National Monument in NY NY. I gave talks and tours about the Statue of Liberty and worked various positions at the monument and roved Liberty Island. In February of 2007- July 2008 I took my first permanent position with the National Park Service in Washington DC at the National Mall and Memorial Parks as a Visitor Use Assistant. I gave talks and tours at the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, WWII Memorial, Franklin Rosevelt Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial. While working there I also did two 3 months details at the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park working and giving tours on the reproduction canal boat in the historic Georgetown section of Washington DC. In July 2008, I took a park guide position in Richmond VA at the Maggie L Walker National Historic Site and Richmond National Battlefield Park. I gave tours of Mrs. Walkers historic house and cannon programs at the visitor center at the battlefield. In February of 2011, I returned to the National Mall and Memorial Parks as a park ranger. I worked at the National Mall until November 2017. While there I did two 4-month temporary promotions to supervisory park ranger and for the last year and a half I was a seasonal supervisor. This lead me back to the Gateway Arch when I applied to be and was hired as a supervisory park ranger. I have done that since December of 2017. In the summer of 2021, I spent 4 months working as the Chief of Interpretation at Channel Islands National Park in Ventura CA. Beautiful park with great weather and great staff.

Since 2002 I have been able to tell many great stories about American history, culture, art, and nature. The good, the bad and the ugly of our collective story as an American people. It is a story that needs to be told because the more we know about are history the better we can understand where we came from and know our past mistakes so we can avoid making them again. I have also had the pleasure of working with many great dedicated people while working for the National Park Service. I thank them for their dedication and service to our country. Thank you for your hard work protecting America's treasures.

Standing on the original torch of the Statue of Liberty in 2006