Campus History | About UMD

Our History

On April 2, 1895 Minnesota Governor David. M. Clough signed legislation approving the creation of the State Normal School at Duluth. Eight years later, in 1903, seven women graduated with teaching degrees. In 1921, the Normal School became the Duluth State Teacher’s College and in 1947, the Teacher's College was named the Duluth Branch of the University of Minnesota.

The University of Minnesota Duluth’s Land Acknowledgment

We collectively acknowledge that the University of Minnesota Duluth is located on the traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of Indigenous people. The University resides on land that was cared for and called home by the Ojibwe people, before them the Dakota and Northern Cheyenne people, and other Native peoples from time immemorial. Ceded by the Ojibwe in an 1854 treaty, this land holds great historical, spiritual, and personal significance for its original stewards, the Native nations and peoples of this region. We recognize and continually support and advocate for the sovereignty of the Native nations in this territory and beyond. By offering this land acknowledgment, we affirm tribal sovereignty and will work to hold the University of Minnesota Duluth accountable to American Indian peoples and nations.

University of Minnesota, Duluth

By the early 1950's, student life began to shift to the upper campus with the addition of a new science building, Romano gymnasium and Kirby Student Center. Today, the campus has more than 50 buildings.

Most recently, UMD broke ground on a new Chemistry and Advanced Materials Sciences in June 2017. Old Main was destroyed in a fire in 1993, but the lower campus is still home to UMD's Research Laboratory Building.