Jeffrey Smith as P.T. Barnum
Jeffrey Smith, history professor at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO, has portrayed P. T. Barnum, William Clark, and Andrew Carnegie more than 150 times in both academic and public forums. Smith holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Akron, a master’s degree in Museology from Syracuse University, and a BA in History and Political Science from Mount Union College. Before joining the faculty at Lindenwood, Smith spent thirteen years as director of a historical society in Ohio and a history research library in St. Louis. He is the recipient of the 2007 President’s Award as Teacher-Scholar at Lindenwood University. His most recent book is Seeking a Newer World: The Fort Osage Journals and Letters of George Sibley, 1808-1811, dealing with the experiences of the chief trade factor at Fort Osage in Missouri. Smith is now writing The Education of William Clark for the University of Nebraska Press, analyzing the ways Clark’s “western trip” altered his world view and life.
Today, Jeffrey Smith lives in a century home in St. Louis with his wife, Kris Runberg, and their teenage daughter, Lucy. Perhaps not coincidentally, he shares a birthday with Phineas Taylor Barnum.