Sally Lou Watson papers
Scope and Contents
The Sally Lou Watson Papers consist of diaries, sketchbooks and writings by Sally Watson. Many of the drawings and diaries cover the historical period of World War Two.
Dates
- 1940 - 1983
Creator
- Watson, Sally,, 1924- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Biographical / Historical
Sally Lou Watson was born in 1924 in Seattle, Washington, and expressed passion for reading and writing from an early age. Being uninterested in the traditional career options available for women at the time, she joined the Navy WAVES in 1944. She came to Reed College as a junior, and graduated with a degree in General Literature in 1950. After moving to California, she published “Highland Rebel” in 1954 which began her career as an author of historical fiction. Watson has more than a dozen titles to her credit, many of them young adult works centered around strong female characters. After the success of her first books, she traveled through Europe and learned Highland dancing before eventually moving to England. Due to changes in the book market, Watson took a break from writing around 1972 for about 30 years. She moved back to California, whereupon fans convinced her to continue publishing work. Additionally, she is a skilled artist, gardener, member of Mensa, avid cat-rescuer, and Judo black belt.
[References from Sally Watson bio page: https://web.archive.org/web/20180824190533/http://booksbysallywatson.com/bio/, and autobiographical essay: https://web.archive.org/web/20180816195951/http://imagecascade.com/sally-watson.html.]
Extent
1 Linear Feet (2 manuscript boxes)
Language
English
Overview
Sally Lou Watson graduated from Reed in 1950 in literature. She has authored over a dozen novels for young adults focusing on historical fiction. The papers consist of diaries, sketchbooks, and writings by Watson, most from the World War II period and later through her time at Reed.
Physical Location
Archives Main Shelving (L014)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Sally Lou Watson Papers were a gift of Sally Lou Watson on July 30th, 2008, via Conrad Carter.
Processing Information
Processed by Mark Kuestner June 25, 2009.
- Author
- Mark Kuestner
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Reed College Special Collections and Archives Repository
3203 Southeast Woodstock Boulevard
Portland Oregon 97202-8199 United States
archives@reed.edu