Connecting you with the University of Missouri’s innovative research and creative activityTreasure Troves from the Past
A visit with Steven Watts, Professor, History
How Watts Became an Historian
Topics:
history
career
“That’s where it all started,” says Watts, pointing to the bust on his bookshelf. “I was born and grew up in Springfield, Illinois, in the shadow of Abraham Lincoln. From the time I was a little kid, Lincoln and the Civil War were just kind of alive, almost.” Moreover, he recalls, his great aunt, a schoolteacher, took young Watts under her wing. Discovering that he was good at history, and encouraged by his college professors, Watts decided to pursue a career in history.