Acknowledging Heritage - Actualizing Vision

A Brief History of Winona State University

Winona State University's history reaches back to its founding date in 1858 when the first Minnesota State Legislature passed a bill establishing normal schools "to prepare teachers for the common schools of the state."

In 1859 a legislative board agreed to establish the first normal school at Winona, making it the first tax-supported school west of the Mississippi River dedicated to training teachers for the new frontier. The citizens of Winona reacted quickly to support the school and donated more than $7,000 in money and land.

In 1860 classes began in a building provided by agreement with the city of Winona. Although there was not as yet a graduating class, end-of-term exercises were held in June 1861. The school closed for nearly three years during the Civil War, and reopened in November 1864 and continued its mission -- preparing teachers for the new State of Minnesota.

In 1866, still recovering from effects of a civil war and forging new inroads into teacher education, the Normal School held public examinations for the graduates. During three days of exercises in a public forum, students had to answer questions in English language, mathematics, physical and natural sciences, graphics (drawing and penmanship), political economy, and the theories and practice of teaching all these subjects.

Also in 1866, the Legislature approved construction of the school’s first building and by 1869, Main Hall was completed. Classes had been held in community building and ceremonies in churches prior to this.)

Until 1895, students could receive a teaching certificate with just one year of normal school if they had a high school diploma. Without the high school education, three years of normal school were required for certification. By 1904, four more normal schools were opened in Minnesota.

In 1909, Phelps Hall was constructed as the second building and housed a kindergarten (as a teaching lab), a gymnasium and library.

In 1921 the State Normal School became Winona State Teachers College and was authorized to grant the bachelor's degree. In 1926, four students -- two men and two women -- graduated with a four-year teaching degree. A fire destroyed old Main Hall in 1922 and construction was started immediately on a new building, now Somsen Hall which has seen several remodeling's, renovations and two expansions.

During 1920s until World War II, significant curriculum changes enhanced the academic quality of educating teachers. New courses were added yearly and "departments" began to emerge to handle the internal organization of a growing institution. Intramural and extramural athletics enjoyed a boom as did social organizations and co-curricular activities during the years from 1900.

Surviving the Depression years provided a strength to meet new challenges still ahead. The country entered into World War II which again had a dramatic effect on enrollment and ultimately on the nature of the student body as veterans returned home and went to college under the GI Bill. The early age of the "non-traditional" student had begun.

The 1950s and ‘60s produced a building boom like no other and another name change, to Winona State College in 1957, reflecting an increased mission that included the addition of the bachelor of arts, master of science in education and associate in arts degrees. Residence halls increased to number six and a new library joined five academic buildings, athletic building and outdoor facilities, student center, and expansion and remodeling of Somsen Hall by the late 1960s.

In 1975 the school received designation to full university status and part of the Minnesota State University System that included seven institutions in Minnesota and a campus in Japan added in the early 1990s.

Today, Winona State University is structured into five colleges: Business, Education, Liberal Arts, Nursing and Health Sciences, and Science and Engineering. It is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities which operates 37 institutions including technical and community colleges and nine locations of state universities. (It is not part of the University of Minnesota system which comprises the state’s land-grant institution.)

Winona State University now boasts two campuses: the original one in Winona which primarily serves the traditional-age student, and the Rochester campus, completed in 1987 which focuses on non-traditional students, graduate programs, and the Institute for Lifelong Education.

The undergraduate program at WSU offers studies in more than 80 academic areas and 18 graduate programs.

Now in its 14th decade of service, Winona State is as committed to providing a future filled with opportunity as it was in its formative years with an especially keen vision of what quality education should be for the students of the new era beyond the year 2000.

The "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" has become a model directive for academic excellence at Winona State emphasizing the importance of student/faculty contact, collaborative learning, active learning, high expectations, prompt feedback, time on task, and respect for diverse talents and methods of learning. These concepts are found in operation across the university, in classrooms, laboratories, faculty offices and residence hall rooms.

The mission of Winona State University holds to its most basic task: To provide educational benefits to the people it serves by creating a community of learners at a distinctive institution dedicated to improving their lives.