Al Klyberg, with history degrees from the College of Wooster(Ohio) and the University of Michigan, came to Rhode Island in 1968 and spent 30 years as Executive Director of the Rhode Island Historical Society. While in Ann Arbor, he was a manuscripts curator at the William L. Clements Library of Americana, where he catalogued letters of Nathanael Greene and Oliver Hazard Perry. At RIHS he developed and managed the thirteen volumes of the papers of Greene. Klyberg also helped to found the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society and began the project for a state history museum, Heritage Harbor. Here, he developed an over all scope for the field of RI history, The Six Big Ideas of RI History. He brought on line the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket. President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the Institute for Museum Services. In the field of local history, he has served on the boards of the Blackstone Valley Historical Society and the Friends of Hearthside. As vice president of Citizens for the Advancement of Natural Areas in Lincoln (CANAL) he spent three decades that resulted in the Blackstone River State Park and the opening of the Captain Wilbur Kelly House Museum. Recently, Al Klyberg has been historian for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, resulting in 100 Years of State Parks in Rhode Island and studies on the contributions of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to parks and forests in the years 1933 to 1941. Recently he was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. In 1986 Rhode Island College conferred on him the degree of L.H.D. ( Doctor of Humane Letters).
