CHARLES F. BRYAN, JR. is a professional historian who spent most of his career in the public history field— history outside of the classroom. He served as president and CEO of the Virginia Historical Society for 20 years after having served as the head of the East Tennessee Historical Society and the St. Louis Mercantile Library Association. He is a regular guest columist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, having contributed nearly two-hundred essays and columns since retiring from the Virginia Historical Society in 2008.