author
William Watts Folwell
1833–1929
A Civil War veteran turned pioneering university leader, he helped shape higher education in Minnesota and later became one of the state's most respected historians. His writing combines a teacher’s clarity with a deep interest in how Minnesota grew and changed.
1 Audiobook
Minnesota, the North Star State
by William Watts Folwell
About the author
Born on February 14, 1833, in New York, William Watts Folwell built a long career as an educator, writer, and public-minded scholar. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War, then went on to become the first president of the University of Minnesota in 1869, taking the role while still a relatively young man.
Folwell led the university through its early formative years and remained closely connected to it afterward as a professor and president emeritus. His work helped establish the institution's academic character at a time when higher education in the American Midwest was still taking shape.
He is also remembered for his major contribution as a historian of the state. His multi-volume History of Minnesota became an important record of Minnesota's development, reflecting years of careful research and a lasting commitment to preserving the state's story. He died on September 17, 1929.