Rapp named Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum executive director

HANNIBAL, MO. — Megan Rapp has accepted the position of Executive Director of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum.  

Rapp received her undergraduate degree in History and Political Science from Culver-Stockton College and her Museum Studies Masters Degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She is also a certified Travel Industry Specialist through Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Rapp has been in the tourism industry in Hannibal for more than 20 years. She first served as Manager of Marketing and Community Relations for the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum, during which she worked with media to create national and international press coverage. Rapp continued her promotion of Mark Twain and Hannibal by accepting the job of Assistant Director, then Director of the Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau.

During her time with the Convention and Visitors Bureau, Rapp promoted Hannibal and Mark Twain in many ways. She spearheaded the first UX-designed website for VisitHannibal, with an easy-to-navigate, mobile-first interface. She created and promoted group itineraries, which she then sold to tour groups through national and international marketplace meetings. Her team created free walking tours to enhance and increase the duration of visitors’ time in Hannibal, inviting them to spend more tourism dollars. She continued to work with local, national, and international media to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of media coverage for Hannibal, and secured over $300,000 in advertising grants.

While working on her Museum Studies Masters, Rapp was a research assistant for the exhibits that are currently in the Interpretive Center and the Boyhood Home, as the Museum Studies Department Director had been hired by the museum to create and implement an exhibit master plan for the museum. Those two years of intensive research of Twain’s early life in Hannibal and how they affected his life and writing led to a continuing passion for sharing Mark Twain’s relevance with the world.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to be chosen to lead the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum into the next phase of its success,” Rapp said. “Mark Twain has a national and international draw; this is easier than ever to see with Viking cruise lines choosing Hannibal on their Mississippi River voyage. Each year visitors from all 50 states and over 60 countries make their way to Hannibal to see the places that inspired Mark Twain’s stories. His wit and insight into human nature are timeless, and I am excited to continue to tell that story and to connect the community with the museum in new ways.

“Mark Twain put Hannibal on the map, and we will continue to share his legacy with the world.”

Rapp takes over for the retiring Henry Sweets and will assume her new role May 1.