Henry Benjamin Whipple

Born in 1822, Henry Benjamin Whipple became the first Episcopal bishop of Minnesota and spent much of his life serving in the Upper Midwest. He helped establish churches, traveled widely across a large frontier diocese, and became a prominent religious voice during a period of rapid settlement and conflict.

He is especially remembered for speaking out on behalf of Dakota and other Native communities when U.S. policies and local treatment were often harsh and unjust. During and after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, he appealed directly to federal leaders for mercy and for fairer treatment, which made him one of the best-known church advocates for Native rights in his era.

Whipple also helped found enduring educational institutions, including what became Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota. He died in 1901, and his reputation has remained tied both to his missionary work and to his efforts to press the nation toward a more humane policy.