Charles S. "Chas" Peterson (January 30, 1927 – May 10, 2017) was an American historian.
A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and a resident of Utah most of his life, he specialized in the history of his state and of the people of the LDS Church.
Born into a Latter-day Saint family, he served in the U.S. Army (1945–46) and served on a church mission to Sweden (1947–49), where he worked with Ezra Taft Benson.
Upon the completion of his mission, he studied at Brigham Young University, graduating with a BA in 1953, the year of his marriage to Elizabeth "Betty" Hayes.
The couple had six children while Peterson continued his studies, earning an MA (BYU, 1958) and a PhD (Arizona State University, 1967).