ONU Senior Finds His Passion for History Through Family and Community

An Ohio Northern University student credits his grandfather for turning him into a lover of history.

As a child, Jacob Wagner spent hours with him wandering through museums and conversing about historical events and people.

Over time, Wagner came to see history not just as a record of what’s gone, but as a powerful lens for understanding the present.

Now a senior in the ONU Getty College of Arts & Sciences, Wagner plans to teach history at the high school level, and he wants to make the past come alive for his students.

Wagner has already logged over 100 field hours in local classrooms, and worked as a substitute teacher and summer school teacher for the Ada Bulldogs.

Beyond the classroom, he’s engaged in impactful internships at the Allen County Museum and Historical Society and the Hardin County Historical Museums.

One highlight was helping organize a World War II reenactment this past summer, in collaboration with Jennifer Ulmer, director of the Hardin County Historical Museum.

You can learn more about Wagner and read other ONU Student Stories by clicking here.