Excerpt from A History of Minnesota, Vol. 1 of 4 During his presidency at the university Dr. Folwell not only laid broad and firm foundations for that institution but also took the lead in promoting the development of high schools and in building up a unified system of public educa tion in the state. The establishment of the Minnesota Geological and Natural History Survey in 1872 was also a result of his foresight and initiative. After his resignation from the presidency of the university in 1884. Dr. Folwell rendered notable services to that institution as professor of political science and as librarian until his retirement in 1907. His in uence, however, was by no means confined to scholastic matters. He could always be counted on to aid in any movement for the advancement of culture and the public welfare. Thus he was one of the founders of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts and served as its president from 1869 to 1884; from 1888 to 1906 he was an active mem ber of the Minneapolis park commission; and from 1896 to 1902 he served on the state board of charities and correc tions. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."