Eugene P. Watson

Eugene Payne Watson (June 29, 1911 – February 29, 1964) was the head librarian and professor of library science at Northwestern State University in his native Natchitoches, Louisiana, from 1940 until his death. He fought to gain greater academic recognition of librarians. In 1950, Watson founded Alpha Beta Alpha, the first coeducational undergraduate library science fraternity in the United States. The fraternity held its first biennial convention on the NSU campus in 1952. At the time of Watson's death, the fraternity had twenty-nine chapters nationally.

Watson was born to Arthur William Watson (1877-1932) and the former Marie Eugenie Chopin (1879-1917). He had a brother Arthur Chopin Watson (1909-1984), a prominent Natchitoches attorney, philanthropist, and the chairman of the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee from 1968-1976.

Like his older brother, Watson was educated in the Roman Catholic St. Mary's Academy and St. Mary's High School in Natchitoches. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Northwestern (then the Louisiana State Normal College) in 1933, his Master of Arts degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1934, and his master of library science degree from LSU in 1937. He received the Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1951. He also completed advanced studies at Columbia University in New York City from 1959-1960. He never married.

He joined the NSU faculty as an English instructor in 1934 and became the assistant librarian from 1937-1940. He was promoted to head librarian in 1940, a post that he held for the remainder of his life. His articles on education and literary subjects were published in professional magazines, as book reviews, and as editorials.

He established the "Louisiana Room" at the then Russell Library on the NSU campus. He was a member of the American Library Association, the Modern Language Association, the Bibliographical Society of America, the Louisiana Histyorical Association, the Louisiana Chess Association, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Beta Phi Mu, Phi Kappa Rho, and Kappa Delta Pi. He was a member of the Catholic Knights of Columbus men's organization. He was also active in the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, the United Fund, American Red Cross, and the Restoration of Colonial Natchitoches, Inc., an historical preservationist group.

Watson is interred in the Catholic Cemetery in Natchitoches.

A national library science scholarship is named in his honor. After Watson's death, the Russell Library at NSU was renamed the Eugene P. Watson Memorial Library.

References

*"Eugene Payne Watson", "A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography" Vol. 2 (1988), p. 828
*"Who's Who in America", XXXIII
*"Alpha Journal" V (1963-1964)
*"Louisiana History" V (1964)
*Watson obituary, Northwestern State College "Current Sauce", March 6, 1964
*http://www.kutztown.edu/academics/education/itc/alpha_beta_alpha.html