Jottings News

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.

As a new graduate student at UNO, I decided I wanted to take on an internship during my first semester. My advisor, Dr. Kristin Girten, placed me at the Danish American Archive and Library to give me a feel for the kind of archival work I will be expected to do if I pursue a PhD. I was excited to work there because my family has ties to Denmark. I never imagined all the exciting finds I would make while working on my first assignment!

DAAL – Uno Photo Exhibit Opens To Positive Reviews. “These pictures allowed me to travel back in time”…..”How charming”….. “It’s wonderful”…..”Great exhibit”….. were just a few of the comments visitors to the Danish Children Growing Up American photo display wrote when the exhibit officially opened in September.

A delightful photo exhibit featuring Danish immigrant children as they adjust to life in America is scheduled to open September 9, 2013, at the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library on the campus of the University of Nebraska Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.

For the Director’s Report I would like to describe a typical day in the Archive to you. As a matter of fact, I would love to describe a typical day, but if there is one thing we learned over the past year, it is “a typical day in the Archive is atypical.”

If you have time for only one book this year, then use that time to read Under the Cloud. This is the story of one woman’s life and the qualities of courage and commitment, intuition and faith, that make it uniquely her own.

On April 16 th the DAAL proudly debuted The Danish Pioneer Connecting an Immigrant Community, an exhibit that was funded by the Nebraska Humanities Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. The DAAL partnered with the current owners of The Danish Pioneer, as well as with the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa, for historical content and development of the exhibit.