Peter Kastor, the Samuel K. Eddy Endowed Professor in History in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been appointed chair of the Missouri Historical Society’s board of trustees. His two-year term began Jan. 1.
The historical society, established in 1866, operates the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park as well as the Missouri Historical Society Library & Research Center on Skinker Boulevard and the Soldiers Memorial Military Museum downtown. In recent years, the society has taken important steps towards digitizing and otherwise enhancing public access to its collections, which encompass more than 175,000 artifacts.
Kastor, who joined the WashU faculty in 2002, is a scholar of the early American republic, particularly the presidency and federal workforce. He is the author or editor of eight books as well as numerous articles and essays. His recent digital archive, “Creating a Federal Government,” collects records for 37,000 people who worked for the federal government between 1789 and 1829.
