Description: Winton Solberg, professor emeritus in the Department of History, wrote numerous articles and published multiple books on the University of Illinois’s history. Born in 1922, Solberg grew up during the Great Depression and served in World War II, and after the war decided to pursue a PhD in history. He came to the University of Illinois in 1961, when university president David Dodds Henry approached Solberg to write a volume on the university’s history. He taught American Intellectual and Cultural History as well as an occasional survey course until his retirement from teaching in 1992. In the spring of 2018, he had two manuscripts pending publication in addition to the recently released Creating the Big Ten: Courage, Corruption, and Commercialization.
Professor Winton Solberg died on July 10th, 2019, at the age of 97.
Date of Interview: 5/15/2018
Interviewer: Alicia Hopkins
Transcript: Winton Solberg Oral History Transcript
Related Resources: Voices of Illinois Oral History Project