LITTLE ROCK-The library archivist at a private liberal arts university in Arkansas has been chosen to be the state's new historian.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage announced the appointment of Wendy Richter on Wednesday. She'll start work as the state historian and director of the Arkansas State Archives in May, three months after Lisa Speer abruptly resigned from the position citing an "intolerable" work climate.
Richter served as director of the state archives from 2005 to 2012, when it was known as the Arkansas History Commission. She's been the library archivist and a faculty member at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia since 2013.
Richter says she decided to return to her job in state archives because "it always was my dream job."