Charles S. Peterson Explained

Charles S. "Chas" Peterson (January 30, 1927 – May 10, 2017) was an American historian. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and a resident of Utah most of his life, he specialized in the history of his state and of the people of the LDS Church.[1] [2]

Biography

Peterson was born in Snowflake, Arizona in 1927. Born into a Latter-day Saint family, he served in the U.S. Army (1945–46) and served on a church mission to Sweden (1947–49), where he worked with Ezra Taft Benson. Upon the completion of his mission, he studied at Brigham Young University, graduating with a BA in 1953, the year of his marriage to Elizabeth "Betty" Hayes. The couple had six children while Peterson continued his studies, earning an MA (BYU, 1958) and a PhD (Arizona State University, 1967).[1] [2]

Peterson became a college-level teacher of Utah history, the director of the Utah State Historical Society, and the editor of the Society's Utah Historical Quarterly. He was the author of Utah: A Bicentennial History, a sociopolitical history of Utah published in 1977.[1] He died in St. George, Utah in 2017.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Charles S. Peterson . Peterson . John A. . 2015 . byu.edu . . September 15, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191109213913/https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/conversations-mormon-historians/charles-s-peterson . November 9, 2019 . dead .
  2. Web site: Charles Peterson: 1927–2017 . . May 12, 2017 . legacy.com . St. George News . September 15, 2018 .