Rodger Stroup
Board Member
State Museum Foundation
A native of St. Louis, Missouri Dr. Stroup grew up and attended public schools in Charlotte, North Carolina. After graduating from Wofford College in 1968 he served two years in the United States Army including 12 months in South Korea as the Division Communication Officer for the 122nd Signal Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He attended graduate school at the University of South Carolina receiving a Master of Arts degree in history in 1974 and a Ph. D. in 1980. Dr. Stroup’s areas of concentration included cultural and social history of the South. From 1974 to 1979 he served as the first professional director of the Historic Columbia Foundation. In 1979 he joined a small staff that was planning to develop a State Museum for South Carolina. During his eighteen years at the State Museum he served as curator of history, chief curator and deputy director for collections and interpretation. In 1997 he because the director of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, a position that also included serving as the state historic preservation officer. He retired in 2009 and since that time continues to volunteer at local historic organizations including serving as the superintendent of the Rockton, Rion & Western Railroad the operating tourist railroad of the South Carolina Railroad Museum. When he retired in 2009 he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian honor in the state of South Carolina. In 2019 he published Meet me at the Rocket, a history of the South Carolina State Fair.
During his career Dr. Stroup served on numerous community and professional organizations. He served as president of the Historic Columbia Foundation, the Shandon Neighborhood Council and the Richland County Historic Preservation Commission. His professional involvement included serving on the Council of the American Association for State and Local History, as a member of the National Historic Public Records Commission, president of the South Carolina Federation of Museums and Chairman of the South Carolina Hall of Fame