Blunt to lead State Historical Society of Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KFVS) - Retired U.S. Senator Roy Blunt was elected as president of the State Historical Society.

According to a release from the society, the board of trustees recently elected Blunt to a three-year term. He has served as a trustee of the society since 2005.

Blunt follows Virginia Laas, a professor emerita of history at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin. Laas will continue to serve as a trustee of the society.

The State Historical Society of Missouri will celebrate the 125th anniversary of its founding by the Missouri Press Association in 1898 and its establishment as a trustee of the state a year later.

According to the release, the society collects, preserves and shares with the public materials related to all aspects and periods of Missouri history.

It has research centers in Cape Girardeau, Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla, St. Louis and Springfield.

They said it has newspapers, manuscripts, rare books, maps, oral histories, photographs, editorial cartoons and an extensive art collection of important artworks related to the state’s history and westward expansion.

“As a student and teacher of history before entering politics and having traveled to all 114 counties and the city of St. Louis throughout my political career, it is my privilege to continue to serve Missourians and this important organization,” Blunt said in the release.

He also spoke of his long-time working relationship with Gary Kremer, executive director of the State Historical Society. While Blunt served as Secretary of State, he appointed Kremer to State Archivist.

“I look forward to working with Gary and the rest of the great staff at the Society,” he added. “I also appreciate the leadership of Virginia Laas, who helped guide the State Historical Society through the challenges of COVID soon after we opened a new headquarters facility on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia.”

Blunt was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives seven times, beginning in 1996, and to the U.S. Senate in 2010. Reelected in 2016, Blunt chose to retire in January 2023.