Southern studies Director Harry Watson will vacate post

Harry L. Watson, Professor; Director, Center for the Study of the American South, is stepping down from his position. "It has been an enormous honor and privilege to direct the center," he said. "I think Carolina is the greatest university for studying the south. We have an enormous collection of materials about the south and students and scholars that make it their specialty," he said.

As a child, Harry Watson loved listening to old people talk about the past.

This passion for history eventually led Watson to become the director of UNC’s Center for the Study of the American South.

After 13 years in the job, he will step down from the post on June 30, but will continue to teach.

Watson helped to build the center from a group of projects stuck in small offices to a nationally recognized authority on Southern history and culture, his colleagues said.

In his youth, Watson considered history to be the “key to the world of the grown-ups.”

“I remember hearing an older member of my family ask when someone was married and the answer was ‘before the war,’” he said.

When Watson arrived at UNC after receiving his doctorate from Northwestern University, the department assumed he specialized in Southern history because of his dissertation.

“I hadn’t taken a course on North Carolina history since eighth grade, and I had never taken a course on Southern history,” Watson said.

Watson used his knowledge from racial history courses to become one of the most respected Southern history academics.

When the center was founded in 1992, Watson was one of the first on board. And in 1998, he was asked to fill the then-vacant role of director in 1999.

“At the time I took the position, we didn’t have a building and our budget wasn’t very big,” he said.

Watson grew the center by adding a speaker series and a Southern studies minor through the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as consolidating it in the Love House at the intersection of Franklin Street and Battle Lane.

Watson’s colleagues praised his contribution to the center.

“Getting the center together under one roof was a huge help, and he deserves much of the credit,” said Beth Millwood, director of outreach for the center.

But Watson’s departure does not mean he will totally absent.

“As busy as Harry is, he will still take the time to walk a prospective Carolina student through the center,” said Dave Shaw, executive editor of Southern Cultures magazine.

Watson decided to step down due to his commitment to other projects, such as a U.S. history textbook that he has had on hold since starting as director.

“I want to work on other projects before I totally burn out,” he said.

The search for the new director is being conducted through the college internally.

Watson said he has appreciated the trust the University put in him to build up the center.

“It’s required the same amount of creativity as writing a book.”

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