William Kidder received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania and is a retired high school history teacher who taught for forty years in both public and private schools, including 32 years at the Hun School of Princeton. He served four years on active duty in the US Navy and was assigned to the US Navy Research and Development Unit, Vietnam and then the destroyer USS Brownson (DD868). In the 1980s he was the lead researcher and writer for the creation of the Admiral Arleigh Burke National Destroyer Museum. He is active in historical societies in Ewing, Hopewell, and Lawrence township and an avid member of the Association for Living History, Farm, and Agricultural Museums (ALHFAM), engaged in various projects for local historical sites. He has also worked with the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area.