Al Watts
History Consultant
Community Engagement Director - Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley (current, part-time)
MA Public History and Graduate Certificate in American History
- American Public University (completing in 2024)
BS History - Iowa State University
Contact: History@AlWatts.com
Community Engagement Director - Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley (current, part-time)
MA Public History and Graduate Certificate in American History
- American Public University (completing in 2024)
BS History - Iowa State University
Contact: History@AlWatts.com
| RESUMÉ - Al Watts (he/him) |
In Minneapolis, MN in 1932 Carl Becker introduced "Mr. Everyman" to a gathering of the American Historical Association. "Mr. Everyman... remembers things said and done,"1 Becker said, in a "convenient blend of truth and fancy."2 "Mr. Everyman," he argued, was not unlike an academic historian who uses facts and his or her interpretation of those facts. Becker's point was that history is not static or dead but rather constantly in a state of flux related to the problems we face in the present. The murder of George Floyd, the repeal of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the many bans on gender-affirming care for transgender teens give us different questions to explore in our past. I am obsessively curious about the daily activities of individuals of all races, ethnicities, genders, and income levels from America's past and how their experiences shaped who we are today.
Those who know me best would describe me as welcoming, detail-oriented, collaborative, empathetic, a good leader, hesitant and a little too frugal. I enjoy reading, writing, budgeting, taking my wife to dinner, being one-on-one with my kids, and sipping Reposado Tequila. As my kids start heading out to blaze their own path, I am excited about the next chapter of my life and the opportunity to utilize my passion for American history to improve communities.
Al
1 Carl Becker, "Everyman His Own Historian." The American Historical Review 37, no. 2 (January 1932), 223, JSTOR, accessed June 29, 2021, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1838208.
2 Ibid., 231.
Those who know me best would describe me as welcoming, detail-oriented, collaborative, empathetic, a good leader, hesitant and a little too frugal. I enjoy reading, writing, budgeting, taking my wife to dinner, being one-on-one with my kids, and sipping Reposado Tequila. As my kids start heading out to blaze their own path, I am excited about the next chapter of my life and the opportunity to utilize my passion for American history to improve communities.
Al
1 Carl Becker, "Everyman His Own Historian." The American Historical Review 37, no. 2 (January 1932), 223, JSTOR, accessed June 29, 2021, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1838208.
2 Ibid., 231.
Learn more about my personal story from my interview on CBS This Morning February 10, 2015: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stay-at-home-fathers-find-support-in-national-at-home-dad-network/