Robert K. Sutton retired as Chief Historian of the National Park Service in 2016, after having served in the position for nearly nine years. He came to this position following his tenure as the Superintendent of Manassas National Battlefield Park for the previous 12 ½ years. From 1986 to 1990, he directed the Historic Preservation and Historical Administration public history programs at Arizona State University. He has published a number of books, articles and reviews on various public history topics. One of his primary interests as Chief Historian and as Superintendent at Manassas Battlefield was leading the emphasis on expanding the interpretation of the Civil War for the Sesquicentennial. As part of that effort, he encouraged Civil War battlefields to expand their interpretive programs to focus more attention to the social, economic, and political issues during the Civil War Era. Dr. Sutton is currently serving as a consultant to the American Battle Monuments Commission, assisting commission staff in developing interpretive programs to commemorate the Centennial of World War I. In that program, he is editing a collection of essays by leading World War I historians that will be available in April 2017. Dr. Sutton also has written a book on the Civil War Era in Kansas, that will be published by Skyhorse Publishing in August 2017. The book will explore the efforts of abolitionists to ensure that the Territory of Kansas would become a free state, focusing on the support of Amos Lawrence, a wealthy businessman in Boston, to the town that bore his name in Lawrence, Kansas. Dr. Sutton tells the story from the perspective of the major players. The book is titled: Stark Mad Abolitionists: Lawrence, Kansas and the Battle Over Slavery in the Civil War Era. A blurb for the book is attached here: http://skyhorsepublishing.com/titles/12108-9781510716490-stark-mad-abolitionists.
