The State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO) Executive Director Gary Kremer will retire from his position in October 2025 after more than 21 years with the Society and more than 50 years as a highly regarded leader, educator, and advocate for preserving, publishing and sharing the state’s history. Kremer announced his retirement plans at the recent annual meeting of the State Historical Society of Missouri. During his tenure, Kremer led the organization through tremendous growth in services and facilities to benefit Missourians across the state.
According to SHSMO’s president, Sen. Roy Blunt, “Gary Kremer has become the unofficial State Historian to many Missourians over the last two decades. Among the Society’s greatest achievements during Gary’s extraordinary leadership was securing $35 million in state bond funds for the construction of a new headquarters building that opened in 2019.” The 76,700-square-foot building on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus provides modern equipment and space for the preservation of collections and to welcome visitors to learn about Missouri’s people and their history.
New research centers in Cape Girardeau and Springfield were established under Kremer’s leadership, expanding the State Historical Society’s network to six centers across the state. In 2021, the State Historical Society’s Kansas City Research Center moved into the newly renovated Miller Nichols Library on the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus, enlarging its space, and in 2024, the Cape Girardeau Research Center moved to a larger space at Kent Library on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.
In 2021, Kremer served on the Missouri Bicentennial Commission, which oversaw the planning of statewide bicentennial activities. The State Historical Society of Missouri served as the organizer of the bicentennial, which included more than 300 events, programs, and projects developed and carried out in communities across the state to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Missouri statehood. On Statehood Day, August 10, 2021, Kremer delivered the keynote speech at the State Capitol to commemorate the bicentennial.
Kremer has written, coauthored, and coedited 12 books. His most recent book, This Place of Promise: A Historian’s Perspective on 200 Years of Missouri History shares his knowledge and personal experiences as he considers what being a Missourian has meant to all the state’s people. He has continued to publish articles, books, and papers on all aspects of Missouri history during his time at the State Historical Society. He published his first essay on the African American experience in Missouri 50 years ago and has written dozens of articles and five books on the topic of race in Missouri, a publishing record unrivalled by any other scholar of the subject.
The State Historical Society received its first National Endowment for the Humanities – Library of Congress grant for the national Digital Newspaper Project in 2008, marking the beginning of an extensive effort to make millions of pages of Missouri newspapers available online. Kremer oversaw the transfer of the Western Historical Manuscript Collection into the State Historical Society of Missouri in 2010 and the rebuilding of manuscripts and reference services under a new administrative structure. In addition, he has helped to modernize the organization with preservation and digitization of materials and website improvements. Under his direction, the State Historical Society has expanded its collections of newspapers, manuscripts, artworks, maps, and other material. Kremer also furthered the growth of SHSMO’s public programming and outreach efforts such as National History Day in Missouri.
A fifth-generation Missourian, Kremer earned his PhD from American University in Washington, DC. Previously, he taught history at Lincoln University in Jefferson City (1972-1987) and William Woods University in Fulton (1991-2004). He also served as the state archivist of Missouri from 1987 to 1991. He has been SHSMO’s executive director since 2004.
The State Historical Society of Missouri Board of Trustees will immediately begin a search for a new executive director, who will begin duties when Kremer retires next fall.