About the Author

Hello, thank you for stopping by!

My name is Glenna Van Dyke, and I am a senior (Class of 2023) history and secondary education major at The College of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio. I am originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which was the Osage and Shawandasse Tula’s ancestral homelands and later was an important part of the Delaware, Shawnee, and Iroquois nations’ lands.

photo courtesy of John Hopkins and the Wayne County Historical Society

After I graduate with my BA in history and student teach, I am looking to teach social studies in Ohio and pursue a graduate degree in public history. I would love to have a career in historical museum education and exhibit creation in the future.

I wrote this exhibit out of a desire to learn more about Wayne County, Ohio: a place where I lived, learned, and grew over the course of my undergraduate career. I started my work in local history my sophomore year as a researcher for the Wooster Digital History Project, and I have been fascinated by local history and the Wayne County area ever since. Last summer, I had the honor of being a summer intern for the Wayne County Historical Society of Ohio and I served on the WCHS Board of Trustees from June 2022 to April 2023. I believe that local history is a powerful force that shapes how we see not only our past, but our current communities and how they interact with the world.

About On This Land

This project is a part of my Independent Study, a two-semester research project that every Wooster senior gets to complete. On This Land is meant to be a place of dialogue and shared understanding, where communities can come together to discuss an especially challenging part of American history. I am always open to more discussion, comments, and questions. Feel free to reach me via the Contact Page.

In April 2023, this project won The College of Wooster Senior Research Symposium Award for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity, and received the highest possible grade of “Honors” from The College of Wooster Department of History.

There are many people who helped me make this project. Below are some folks I would like to thank for their guidance and support throughout the development process:

This project also received Copeland Funding for Independent Study to provide compensation to Indigenous partners.

I would also like to thank my parents, Sharon and Larry Van Dyke, and my friends; Amari, Artemis, Rachel, Peter, Tobin, John, Sam, Sav (special shoutout to Sav for telling me about the portable bookstand on Amazon!), and my fellow College of Wooster Pipe Band members for all of their support.

To learn more about the process of creating this exhibit, please visit my Blog. Here, you’ll find periodic updates on my progress that give a transparent view of what it was like to create this exhibit.