Blunt Now President of Historical Society

(Jefferson City, MO) Officials with the State Historical Society of Missouri board of trustees is announcing retired U.S. Senator Roy Blunt of Springfield as president of the Society for a three year term. The former senior U.S. Senator from Missouri has served as a trustee of the Society since 2005. Blunt's term as president follows that of 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. Blunt begins his presidency as the State Historical Society of Missouri celebrates 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. A fifth generation Missourian, 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. Before serving in Congress, Blunt was a history teacher, a county official, and, in 1984, became Missouri's secretary of state, the first Republican to be elected to the seat in 52 years. He also served as president of his alma mater, Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar.