The Museum of Danish America (formerly the Danish Immigrant Museum) is a national
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
located in
Elk Horn, Iowa
Elk Horn is a city in Shelby County, Iowa, United States. The population was 601 at the time of the 2020 census. Elk Horn is known as an enclave of Danish ethnicity and is home to the Museum of Danish America.
History
Elk Horn was platted in ...
. Its mission is to "celebrate Danish roots and American dreams."
History
In 1979, two professors from
Dana College
Dana College was a private college in Blair, Nebraska. Its rural 150-acre (607,000 m²) campus is approximately 26 miles (40 km) northwest of Omaha and overlooks a portion of the Missouri River Valley. The campus was planned to be purchase ...
proposed to the Dana College Board of Regents that a museum dedicated to the preservation of Danish
immigrant heritage should be created. This proposal was met with approval, and a year later the Danish American Heritage Society (DAHS) was asked to form an exploratory committee. In 1983, the exploratory committee chose to locate the museum in the Danish Villages of Elk Horn and
Kimballton, Iowa. The board was officially incorporated in May and in July the Elk Horn Lutheran Church donated 20 acres for the museum site.
The museum began accepting donations to its collection and operated out of a building on Elk Horn's main street for several years. The groundbreaking ceremony for the museum's current building occurred in 1988, but the museum building did not open to the public until June 1994.
The museum changed its name from the Danish Immigrant Museum to the Museum of Danish America at its annual meeting on October 11, 2013.
Today, the museum's permanent collection consists of over 35,000 artifacts.
Expansion and the Jens Jensen Prairie Landscape Park
On 22 September 2010, the Danish Villages of Elk Horn and Kimballton, Iowa, were selected to join the Iowa Great Places Program. Included in the Elk Horn-Kimballton Great Places proposal was the development of the Jens Jensen Prairie Landscape Park on the museum's grounds. Wayne Alwill, a farmer in
Manning, Iowa
Manning is a city in Carroll County, Iowa, United States, along Iowa Highway 141. The population was 1,455 at the time of the 2020 census. It is named for Orlando Harrison Manning, a Lieutenant Governor of Iowa.
History
Prior to the city's f ...
, left the museum $1.3 million when he died in 2008.
The Jens Jensen Prairie Landscape Park was designed in 2011 and installed the following year. Jens Jensen was a Danish immigrant, and the park emulates and celebrates "the life and work" of
Jens Jensen (landscape architect)
Jens Jensen (September 13, 1860 – October 1, 1951) was a Danish-American landscape architect.
Biography
Jens Jensen was born near Dybbøl, Denmark, on September 13, 1860, to a wealthy farming family. For the first nineteen years of his life ...
.
The park is designed by Jens Jensen's great-great-grandson, also named Jens Jensen, and Bill Tishler, a professor emeritus of the
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
and a Jensen scholar. The park incorporates
native plants
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equi ...
and includes two council rings, a trademark of Jensen landscapes.
In 2013, a pergola exhibit with interpretive panels was installed near the entrance to the park. Later that year, nine pieces of Danish-designed outdoor fitness equipment was added along the recreational trail that winds through the park. A free mobile app is available through the manufacturer, Norwell USA, to help users find the park, demonstrate how to use the equipment, time and track activity, and share via
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
.
The park also includes a 0.6 mile paved pedestrian path, the Friends Walk, that runs from the museum's main building to Bedstemor's House.
Exhibits
The main museum building has three levels.
Lower level
The museum's permanent exhibition, ''Across Oceans, Across Time'', begins on the museum's lower level. The exhibit explores the experience of Danish immigrants and their descendants from 1840 to 1940.
The lower level also contains the museum's visual storage area, where many of the museum's artifacts are stored behind glass walls, and it also contains a multimedia room.
Main level
The museum's permanent exhibition ''Across Oceans, Across Time'' continues on the ground level and covers the years from 1940 to the present day. This level also contains the
Danish-American
Danish Americans ( da, Dansk-amerikanere) are Americans who have ancestral roots originated fully or partially from Denmark. There are approximately 1,300,000 Americans of Danish origin or descent.
History
The first Dane known to have arri ...
Artist Series exhibit, which showcases a different Danish-American artist every six months. Most recent artists featured in this series include artist Victor Borge in the exhibit ''The Victor Borge Legacy Award: Celebrating 10 Years of Music,'' which was showcased in the multimedia room''.'' In addition to exhibits, this level of the museum houses the museum's Wall of Honor, the first
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
owned by Danish immigrant performer
Victor Borge
Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the North America and Europe. His ...
, the museum gift shop and a
Lego play area.
Kramme Gallery
The Kramme Gallery is on the upper level and houses the museum's temporary exhibits. The most recent temporary exhibit was the ''Tradition and Change: Weddings in Danish America,'' which will be followed by the exhibit ''Papirklip: A global and Timeless Art.''
Off-site properties
Genealogy Center
In 1996, the museum's
research library
A research library is a library which contains an in-depth collection of material on one or several subjects.(Young, 1983; p. 188) A research library will generally include an in-depth selection of materials on a particular topic or set of to ...
opened in-house and was initially staffed by volunteers. A librarian was hired in 2002. The following year, the Genealogy Center opened at its current location on Elk Horn's Main Street.
In addition to its collection and resources, the Genealogy Center offers translation and research services, as well as
genealogy
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
workshops, for a fee.
Jens Dixen House
Located just north of the museum building is an authentic North Dakota homesteader's cabin once occupied by Danish immigrant Jens Dixen. Jens Dixen settled near
Kenmare, North Dakota circa 1901. A schoolteacher and preacher, Jens Dixen offered instruction to boys from the local area out of this house. During spells of bad winter weather, some of his students would sleep in the small space above the main floor room.
The Jens Dixen House was moved to the museum property in 1999 and restored by the Cedar Valley Danes. The house is open to visitors during the museum's regular operating hours.
Bedstemor's House
Bedstemor's House is a historic house museum located at the intersection of Union and College Street in
Elk Horn, Iowa
Elk Horn is a city in Shelby County, Iowa, United States. The population was 601 at the time of the 2020 census. Elk Horn is known as an enclave of Danish ethnicity and is home to the Museum of Danish America.
History
Elk Horn was platted in ...
. The two-story Victorian home was built in 1908 by a Danish immigrant named Jens Otto Christiansen. The home was intended to be an engagement gift, but Christiansen's marriage proposal was rejected, and the house was rented out to local families instead. Christiansen sold the house to the Salem Old People's Home in 1933 for one dollar.
From 1946 to 1982, a woman of Danish descent named Meta Mortensen lived in the home. In 1982, Mortensen sold the home to the Elk Horn-Kimballton Arts and Recreational Council. The Council named the house Bedstemor's House, which means Grandmother's House in Danish, and operated it as a house museum for seven years. Bedstemor's House was deeded to The Danish Immigrant Museum in April 1990. The house was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
on 16 January 1997. Today, the house museum is interpreted circa 1910. Bedstemor's House is open between 1 PM and 4 PM from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, and by appointment the rest of the year.
A 3-part documentary video entitled "The Story of Bedstemor's House" is accessible through the museum's official website.
References
External links
Museum websiteOnline Collection
{{Authority control
Museum of Danish America, The
Museums in Shelby County, Iowa
Ethnic museums in Iowa
Historic house museums in Iowa
Museums established in 1983
Museum of Danish America, The
European-American museums
Museums of human migration