University of Minnesota
Department of History
history@umn.edu
612-624-2800


Department of History's home page.

Home : Make a Gift

You Make Us Great

The Department of History is a pioneer in fields like women's and gender history and African history.  We have helped moved these areas to the center of the discipline and the intellectual mission of the University of Minnesota. In these fields, we have taught thousands of undergraduates and trained over 40 graduate students, who have gone on to prominent careers in academia and elsewhere in North America, Europe, and Africa.

Our innovative teaching provides our undergraduates with substantive knowledge and new experiences that link the University to the community.  In particular, our History Day interns teach students in Minneapolis public schools research and presentation skills as they develop their projects.  Our public history courses and exhibits have taught students research techniques in archives and in interviews. Their research on the Dinkytown and Riverside neighborhoods enabled the community to understand its own history.

What Your Gift Can Do

Your generous support for the history department is more critical than ever. It helps us attract and retain the very best scholars and students even as state funding declines.

Your contribution allows us to ensure:

  • A distinguished faculty
    Creating endowed chairs and professorships and supporting interdisciplinary research centers and programs will help us recruit and retain outstanding faculty.
  • Excellence and competitiveness of our graduate program
    Faculty choose institutions that attract the best graduate students. We need to ensure the excellence and competitiveness of our graduate programs so that we can compete for the best faculty and brightest students.
  • A diverse and engaged undergraduate student body
    Although we are attracting better students than even before, too many outstanding students choose other institutions. The deciding factor is often finances. Merit and need-based scholarships are essential to our success in recruiting these talented students.

Choose a Fund

To remain competitive, we need your support for a new chair, undergraduate scholarships, and funds to allow us to make strategic investments in our department. We have several endowed funds that may interest you.

  • Chair in Comparative Women’s History Fund: Establishes a chair position that will recruit and retain faculty in comparative women's history, build curriculum and educate scholars to maintain position as one of the top 5 national programs.
  • History Day (Cross-College) Mentoring Scholarship Fund: Provides scholarships to full-time undergraduate students admitted to the College of Liberal Arts who show academic promise and financial need. Preference to students who plan to undertake a mentored internship project for History Day.
  • History General Fund: Provides unrestricted support allowing the department to make key strategic investments in high-priority areas when opportunities and critical needs arise.

Your gift can help support the next generation of leaders and thinkers.

Make a Gift

Make a gift to the Department of History online through the University of Minnesota Foundation.

diane walters

For more information on ways to give, contact:

Eva Widder
CLA External Relations
225 Johnston Hall
101 Pleasant Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Email: Eva Widder
Phone: 612-626-5146
For other giving options, visit the U of M Foundation.