Joel Rhodes joined the State Historical Society of Missouri as executive director in 2025. He earned his PhD and MA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Dr. Rhodes is also Professor Emeritus at Southeast Missouri State University where he taught history and public history for twenty-four years and served as Associate Dean the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr. Rhodes has written seven books including A Missouri Railroad Pioneer: The Life of Louis Houck and Growing Up in a Land Called Honalee: The Sixties in the Lives of American Children, both published by the University of Missouri Press. His articles and chapters have appeared in On the Ground: The Black Panther Party in Communities Across America, Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, Girlhood in America, Missouri Historical Review, and The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies. He serves, or has served, on multiple boards including the State Historical Records Advisory Board, Missouri Humanities, Missouri Preservation, and Missouri Association for Museums and Archives.