Irwin Shepard

Military Service

Shepard enlisted in the Army as a private in 1861 and served with Company E of the 17th Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He was soon promoted to the rank of corporal. On 20 November 1863, Corporal Shepard volunteered for a mission to burn the buildings of the Judge Reese farm near Fort Sanders, Knoxville, Tennessee, which the Confederates were using to shoot at Union troops. A Confederate sniper shooting at Shepard's group from above resulted in orders to retreat. However, Shepard stayed behind and ensured the complete destruction of the buildings. This action led to his Medal of Honor. Shepard also fought in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Brandy Station, Fredericksburg, Green River, Vicksburg, Jackson, Loudan, and the Wilderness. He was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness but eventually recovered.

Shepard's Medal of Honor citation reads:

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Corporal Irwin Shepard, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 20 November 1863, while serving with Company E, 17th Michigan Infantry, in action at Fort Sanders, Knoxville, Tennessee. Having voluntarily accompanied a small party to destroy buildings within the enemy's lines, whence sharpshooters had been firing, disregarded an order to retire, Corporal Shepard remained and completed the firing of the buildings, thus insuring their total destruction; this at the imminent risk of his life from the fire of the advancing enemy.

Educator

After the war, Shepard received A.B., A.M., and PhD degrees from Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan. After graduating, Shepard became the Superintendent of Schools in Charles City, Iowa, in 1871. He married Mary Bassett Elmer in 1871 and fathered three children, of which two boys survived to adulthood, with one of them, Elmer, eventually becoming an assistant professor of mathematics at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Shepard moved to Winona, Minnesota, in 1875 to become the principal of Winona High School. In 1878, he was appointed Superintendent of the Winona Public School System.

In 1879, he was elected Principal of the Winona State Normal School. The title was changed to 'President' in 1880. That year, he established the first kindergarten program west of the Mississippi River and the first training course for kindergarten teachers west of the Mississippi. Finally, he established a "normal school diploma" that granted teachers the qualification to teach in the normal school system. His presidency would also see the substantial expansion of the English department.

Shepard would depart from his predecessor, Charles A. Morey's philosophy in a number of ways. Morey's focus on rigorous high standards and discipline would be reformed in favor of a philosophy prioritizing efficiency, and "kindly reason." The relaxing of Morey's policies, coupled with the school gaining prestige and recognition, would see enrollment climb by 150% by 1886. As classes became crowded, Shepard once again raised admission standards. Plans for the expansion of the campus began to be drawn up in 1894. In 1898, he resigned from the presidency.

In 1893, Shepard became the secretary of the National Educational Association. He was also a member of the John Ball Post No. 45 G.A.R., Department of Minnesota. He died on 17 April 1916 in Winona and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Winona.