- Listenly
- Public Library
- All Authors
- William Watts Folwell
author
William Watts Folwell
1833–1929
A Civil War veteran, historian, and educator, he helped shape the early University of Minnesota as its first president. He later became one of the state's most important chroniclers through his four-volume history of Minnesota.
1 Audiobook
Minnesota, the North Star State
by William Watts Folwell
About the author
Born in 1833 in New York, William Watts Folwell studied at Hobart College and went on to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1869, he became the first president of the University of Minnesota, helping guide the young institution in its formative years.
After leaving the presidency, he remained an important public figure in Minnesota through writing, teaching, and civic work. He is especially remembered for A History of Minnesota, a major four-volume work that helped preserve the story of the state for later generations.
Folwell lived a long life that stretched from the antebellum era into the twentieth century, dying in 1929. His name remains closely tied to the University of Minnesota and to the early intellectual life of the state.