Jottings News

It was the summer of 2010 when the DAAL was compelled to pack up and leave the lower level of the Dana College library. We took with us our complete inventory of books, documents and the rest…and our website, which we had introduced a couple of years previously.

On October 1 and 2, 2019, board members from three major Danish American institutions toured each others’ facilities, and afterwards met to discuss how they could work together in the future to benefit all three institutions. The event was facilitated by the Danish American Heritage Society (DAHS).

The DAAL’s popular Danish Children Growing Up American traveling exhibit returns to the Dr. C.C. and Mabel Criss Library at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) September 23 to November 1, 2019. “We are thrilled to again be working with the staff of Criss Library where it all began,” says DAAL Executive Director Jill Hennick.

An exciting development took place at the DAAL in 2013 with the establishment of a vital and popular college internship program. An increasing number of students are participating in the ever-expanding program.

When husband and wife, Board Member Dr. Timothy Jensen and Library Director Sharon Jensen, first began sorting and cataloging the DAAL’s massive Paul C. Nyholm collection, they jokingly dubbed it “The Nightmare on Nyholm Street.” But in reality, to the Jensens, and at the DAAL, this collection and others like it are a dream, not a nightmare.

Each year since Dana College closed its doors in June of 2010, the tenacious Dana College Alumni & Friends Association has organized and staged homecoming festivities the first weekend in October.

The Cherokee Nation paid a visit to the DAAL last month. On April 28, a delegation of alumni and family members from the Oaks Indian Mission, located in Oaks, Oklahoma, visited Blair, Nebraska.

A new archival collection, quite unlike anything that the DAAL has seen before, now graces its shelves. It consists of thirty-eight large three-ring binders covering five shelves. These volumes are a genealogist’s dream, tracing the identities, the histories, and the relationships of the Bondo family in Denmark and the USA from the 14 th century right up to the present.

Volunteers Make The Difference For The DAAL. Question: What do a 9-year-old elementary school girl from Georgia and a 92-year-old retired pastor and college professor from Nebraska have in common? Answer: Both have volunteered at the Danish American Archive and Library in 2017.

A compelling story of courage, industry, a little WWII intrigue, and finally, love came to the Danish American Archive and Library recently. It is just one of hundreds contained in our collections, but the story of Jens and Martha Jensen is told in such wonderful detail that it stands out from others by bringing history into reality.

Who among us wouldn’t jump at the chance to enter a time machine and travel back through history to witness first hand some of the events we have always learned about in books or from family stories?

Midland Backs Out—“The wait is over,” the Washington County Pilot-Tribune announced this past March 22. “Nearly three years after Midland University signed a lease agreement with Krejci Development to acquire control of the former Dana College campus, the Fremont institution has announced it will not purchase the campus and plans to end its lease.”

After more than five years of navigating through the stormy seas of the closing of Dana College and searching for a permanent home, the DAAL has finally sailed into safe harbor where we can stay for the next several years. And now we have the time to focus completely on our mission.

Teacher, college professor, pastor, editor and scholar Dr. John W. Nielsen established the DAAL in its current form in 1990 and infused it with his energy and a passion for Danish American history that carries through to today. Because of his foresight and leadership, the DAAL has survived almost insurmountable challenges and come through stronger than ever.

Once in a while in the life of an organization, an offer comes along that’s just too good to pass up, and this is one of those times for the Danish American Archive and Library. John Eriksen, owner of the building the DAAL currently occupies (and a Dane) has agreed to sell the building to us at a price that will allow us to thrive in it for years to come.

2014 was a momentous year for the Danish American Archive and Library. We not only made decisions about finding a permanent home for the Archive, but also about our day-to-day operations, our relationships with other institutions, fundraising initiatives and outreach to the Danish American community at large.

The Danish American Archive and Library website has taken on a whole new, more colorful look. But it is more than just appearance. Significant changes to the way the site operates makes it more user-friendly and the information more accessible.

The Danish American Archive and Library began a journey in July of 2010 when we left the Dana College campus, eventually relocating at our current address on the main street of Blair. Since that time we have continued to grow, thrive, and strengthen and are now ready for the next major step in our journey.