Museum of Danish America

The Museum of Danish America celebrates Danish roots and american dreams through its curatorial activities. The curatorial department maintains a collection of approximately 37,700 artifacts and accepted 184 additional pieces during this past year. Over 46,000 artifact and archival records are made available through "view our collection" on The Museum's website. Work within The archival collections included digitizing 60 vhs recordings from The victor borge collection. The Museum (1) welcomed 5400 visitors this year, (2) opened five new temporary exhibitions, and (3) provided 4 different traveling exhibitions to 4 venues in 3 states, reaching an additional audience of over 40,000 people. A robust calendar of special events provided lunchtime speakers, holiday traditions, and outdoor activities to visitors of all ages; many of these events took place in online formats. The Museum also offers tours of a 19th century historical house.

The design store displays and sells items reflecting The best in Danish design and books about denmark and danish-american relations. Inventory is selected that reflects The Museum's mission of educating and informing its public and includes items from furniture to lighting to jewelry and home decor and books ranging from academic studies to entertaining folklore.

Public outreach and education activities bring The Museum's mission to its national audience and membership. Outreach to school groups and community members has been strategically developed to engage a larger audience with a newly created position of youth and community educator in june of 2022. Museum staff engage constituents at public festivals, lectures and presentations, workshops, and receptions across The country. During The past fiscal year, Museum staff interacted with audience members in 21 events in 7 states, both in person and online. The Museum also engaged audience members through internet-based and electronic media. Over 80,000 unique visitors came to The Museum's website, over 7500 people subscribe to The monthly e-newsletter, and more than 12,000 people follow The Museum's facebook page.

The genealogy center of The Museum of Danish America, located on main street in elk horn, collects print, visual, microform, and digital materials on Danish immigrants and Danish americans, their communities, and organizations. It provides information on relevant genealogical resources as well as research and translation services to north american and Danish patrons both in-house and long-distance. The department also provides research support for The curatorial and exhibitions departments. In fy 2021/2022, The genealogy center served patrons both in person and through digital communication. Outreach activities included newspaper vignettes, articles written for The America letter, presentations, social media interactions, and meetings with other danish-american archives and organizations. In fy 2021/2022, genealogy staff and volunteers completed 10 large translation requests, nearly a dozen small translations of Danish vital records, 10 in-depth research projects, and updated several in-house indexes and databases. The exhibit area in The genealogy center has been redesigned to create an interactive learning space for visitors to enjoy. Volunteers have also begun a digitization project on The Immigrant file collection with The future goal of making The files accessible to users online. The jens jensen prairie landscape park is a recreated native tallgrass prairie covering over 25 acres of The Museum's grounds. It is named in honor of jens jensen, a Danish Immigrant who became a leading conversationist and founder of The prairie style of landscape architecture. The public is welcome to enjoy The park's walking paths, seating circles, fitness equipment, and outdoor interpretive panels. Special programs and school tours offer extra experiences for enjoying and appreciating The prairie ecosystem. Park maintenance is supported by an annual summer internship and The Museum's facilities staff.