Personal Page:
Ralph W. Wagner

1999

I was born in 1951 and entered the Bahá'í Faith in 1975. In 1976 to 1978 I served in the Peace Corps in Zaire and worked with local Bahá'í communities. In 1983 I became a famous first in the history of the American Bahá'í community: first pioneer to marry his pioneering consultant, now Susan Abbott Wagner. My sons are Will (born 1984) and Kevin (born 1988). Currently I'm Reference Librarian at Westfield State College and finishing a doctorate in library and information science from the University of Illinois.

My research interest is in the history of libraries. My yet unfinished dissertation is a history of the Farmington Plan, a cooperative foreign acquisitions program of American research libraries, which operated from 1948 to 1972.

Bahá'í studies are a hobby to me. My profession makes me a compulsive digger for information, and so I think I can best serve the field by making relevant information available through Jonah's web site. Currently I'm studying biblical literature in order to write a popular introduction to the Bible from a Bahá'í viewpoint in which the word "proof" doesn't appear!

My current website is www.biblio.com/bookstore/dinsmore-books-westfield.