William Watts Folwell (February 14, 1833 – September 17, 1929) was an educator, writer and historian who was the first president of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Biography

Folwell was born in 1833 in

Romulus, New York Romulus is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 3,383 at the 2020 census. The town is named after the mythical founder of Rome, Romulus, a name assigned by a clerk with an interest in the classics. It is located ...

. He attended Hobart College in

Geneva, New York Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...

, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1857. Folwell was a member of

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Delt, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in Cli ...

fraternity at Hobart. In 1859, he became adjunct professor of mathematics there, and received a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1860. He spent the years 1860–1861 in the study of

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and in travel. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, he served in the 50th New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment where he received the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel of engineers. After the Civil War, Folwell briefly engaged in business pursuits in Ohio and accepted a position as the chair of mathematics at

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

for a year. In 1869, he became the University of Minnesota's first president. When he first assumed the presidency, the university consisted of just eight faculty members and 100 students in a single building. He laid out an ambitious plan for the university to expand beyond traditional

undergraduate education Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

to include

postgraduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

and professional programs as well as cultural facilities such as museums and libraries. Folwell's plans caused some tension with more traditional faculty, leading to resignations in 1879 and an amicable end to his presidency in 1884. Folwell continued to serve the university as the chair of the school's political science department and as the university's librarian until 1907. After retiring the University named a new building Folwell Hall in his honor. Folwell was also a major advocate for parks in Minneapolis, serving on the city's park board from 1889 to 1907 and as the board's president from 1895 to 1903. He supported

Horace Cleveland Horace William Shaler Cleveland (December 16, 1814 – December 5, 1900) was an American landscape architect. His approach to natural landscape design can be seen in projects such as the Grand Rounds in Minneapolis; Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Con ...

's vision of a network of parks crossing the city and also suggested the term "

Grand Rounds Grand rounds are a methodology of medical education and inpatient care, consisting of presenting the medical problems and treatment of a particular patient to an audience consisting of doctors, pharmacists, residents, and medical students. It wa ...

" to describe it. Today the

Folwell, Minneapolis Folwell is a neighborhood in the U.S. city of Minneapolis on its northside that is bound by Dowling Avenue to the north, Dupont Avenue North to the east, Lowry Avenue North to the south, and Penn Avenue North to the west. It is part of the large ...

neighborhood and Folwell Park within it are named for him as was William Watts Folwell Junior High (later Middle) School, a south Minneapolis public school that was open from 1931 to 2010 (converted to the current Folwell Performing Arts, a public pre-K through 8 facility). Folwell was president of the

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehoo ...

from 1924 to 1927. Folwell-Lakewood-20100912

Folwell died in 1929. He is buried in

Lakewood Cemetery Lakewood Cemetery is a large private, non-sectarian cemetery located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is located at 3600 Hennepin Avenue at the southern end of the Uptown area. It is noted for its chapel which is on the National Re ...

in Minneapolis.

Publications

Books written by Folwell: * * * * *

Papers

Two collections of William Watts Folwell's papers are available for research use at the University Archives, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. They include correspondence, civil war letters, genealogical correspondence, manuscripts by Folwell, newspaper clippings, and diaries by Folwell.William Watts Folwell Papers, 1856–1929
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Folwell, William Watts Union Army soldiers 1833 births 1929 deaths Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Presidents of the University of Minnesota American librarians People from Romulus, New York Burials at Lakewood Cemetery People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Historians from Minnesota Historians from New York (state)