Photo courtesy of Savannah Morning News

W. Todd Groce, Ph.D.

 

President and Chief Executive Officer

   

One of the leading public history executives in the nation, W. Todd Groce has over 20 years of experience as an educator and administrator and has led institutions in raising over $40 million for educational programming, capital projects, and endowment. 

 

Born in Virginia and raised in Tennessee, Dr. Groce graduated cum laude and with honors in history from the University of Memphis (’84) and earned an M.A. (’87) and Ph.D. (’92) in history from the University of Tennessee. While in graduate school he taught American history at the University of Tennessee and Maryville College. 

 

In 1990 Dr. Groce left the academy and began his career in public history. He served five years as executive director of the East Tennessee Historical Society, taking that institution to the next level through the development of a new regional history museum. In November 1994 Dr. Groce was named executive director of the Georgia Historical Society, and in April 2006 he was elected the institution’s 43rd president.

 

Dr. Groce has a passion for history. He understands its power to transform the future and the special role the Georgia Historical Society plays in the process. “The essence of what it means to be an American can be found in our history,” he says, “When we understand the story of our unique democratic institutions and traditions, how they were created and the sacrifices that have been made to expand our liberties, we understand America. That’s why it’s crucial that we teach our state’s and nation’s history. The survival of the republic depends upon it.”

 

“It is also important that we take an honest, unblinking look at the past,” he adds. “History isn’t just about telling stories that make us feel good. It’s about understanding what happened and why based on the documentary evidence available to us. We have to be willing to see the past as it was and accept it on its own terms, even if that contradicts what we’ve always believed.”

 

“When we study the past we should always ask ourselves—what does it all mean and why does it matter today? We need to challenge ourselves to stand on new ground, to grow in our understanding, and be open to new ideas and perspectives.”

 

That philosophy forms the foundation of the Georgia Historical Society’s educational mission. It has also fueled unprecedented growth. During Dr. Groce’s tenure the institution’s operating budget has increased from less than $200,000 to nearly $3 million, its endowment has grown from $1 million to $7 million, and its membership has quadrupled from 2,000 to 6,000, including nearly 200 local historical organizations in 80 counties.

 

“The Georgia Historical Society stands in a special position between the academic community and the public,” says Groce. “There’s an amazing body of scholarship being produced in colleges and universities around the country but most of it is not reaching the public. That’s where GHS comes in. We’re the bridge between the academy and the public, connecting the scholarship with a wider audience, and increasing access to history.”

 

Building that bridge has positioned the Georgia Historical Society as the source for Georgia history. Since 1995 the Society has developed over a dozen new public educational programs, including major initiatives such as the radio/television/internet program “Today in Georgia History” (a collaborative project with Georgia Public Broadcasting), the Civil War 150 Historical Marker Project, the Georgia History Festival, and the Georgia Trustees. It privatized its previously state-operated library and archives, creating unprecedented access to the oldest collection of Georgia history in the nation. It has acquired the papers of the state’s leading citizens, including U.S. Attorney General Griffin Bell, legendary UGA head football coach Vince Dooley, state supreme court chief justice Leah Ward Sears and business luminaries such as Mills B. Lane, Jr., James Blanchard, Bill Jones III, and Bernie Marcus. And it is expanding its campus for the first time in 40 years through the Jepson House Educational Center.

 

To achieve these successes Dr. Groce has assembled a remarkably talented and energetic team of the finest historians, archivists, and administrators from around the country. Nearly all of the professional staff has terminal degrees in their fields, including two with doctorates in history. Five of the institution’s seven senior leadership positions are held by women, including the chief operating officer. In addition, during Dr. Groce’s tenure, GHS hired the first female editor and then the first African-American editor of its scholarly journal the Georgia Historical Quarterly. 

 

In addition to being a leader in the field of public history, Dr. Groce is a published scholar and authority on the Civil War and U.S. military history. His first book, Mountain Rebels: East Tennessee Confederates and the Civil War, was based on his doctoral dissertation and published by the University of Tennessee Press in 1999. In 2005 he co-edited with Stephen V. Ash Nineteenth Century America: Essays in Honor of Paul H. Bergeron, also published by UT Press. He has written over 40 articles, essays, and book reviews and lectures to a wide variety of audiences, including college students, university faculty, K-12 teachers, and the general public. State and national media frequently seek his comments on historical issues, and he has made television appearances on the Discovery Channel, Georgia Public Television, C-SPAN’s Book TV, the History Channel, and various internet classroom productions. He has held positions of leadership in the American Association for State and Local History and is a life member of the Southern Historical Association.   

 

Community service is also a significant part of his life. He is a 2003 graduate of Leadership Georgia, a past president of the Rotary Club of Savannah, and past Governor of the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Georgia. He has been appointed to several government commissions by Georgia Governors Roy Barnes and Sonny Perdue and currently serves on the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Tourism Foundation, the Capitol Arts Standards Commission, and the Georgia Civil War Sesquicentennial Planning Committee as chief advisor. He is a trustee of Savannah Country Day School and a lay reader and Sunday school teacher in the Episcopal Church. In 2012 Georgia Trend magazine listed him among the “100 Most Influential Georgians.”

 

Dr. Groce lives in Savannah with his wife and daughter and journeys to the mountains when his duties allow. He is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hunting, canoeing, and hiking and is a classically-trained musician who indulges his passion for Bach, Mozart—and Bluegrass. But no matter where he travels or what avocation he pursues it always comes back to history and the institution he leads.

 

“The Georgia Historical Society is an organization that is just now hitting its stride,” he says. “As the oldest continuously operated historical society in the South we’ve been a leading force in how history has been interpreted for nearly 175 years. I’m excited about the increasingly important role we’re playing on both the state and national level to promote a better understanding of the past and create a better future.”