Jottings News

At its July meeting the board of The Danish American Archive and Library promoted Jill Hennick from Archive Assistant to Associate Director and elected Dr. Timothy Jensen as Chairman of the Board. These two actions will offer additional relief to the Director with Tim being responsible for most DAAL external administrative relationships and Jill assuming even greater responsibility for internal operations.

Two three-year spots will be filled at the annual meeting of The Danish American Archive and Library during the Volunteer Week in October. Board members must attempt to be present at both the April and October archive weeks at their own expense.

DAAL Volunteers will assemble from many states in The Archive facilities during the days of April 20th through the 24th. Some will come for a single day, others for the entire week, but whether they come for a short stay or for five days, they will engage in the process of accessioning and preserving archival material.

Jill Jorgensen Hennick became an assistant to Archive director John W. Nielsen on September 29th. Jill is a 1986 Dana graduate who comes to The Archive with wide business experience and the highest recommendations.

You can only imagine our pleasure at the initial response to Pete Petersen’s suggestion in the May Jottings, as reported by Sandra Wigdahl, that if 52 donors gave $150 each, The Archive would have enough funds to hire a part-time assistant.

AND IT IS SPRING! The crocus and bloodroot have already bloomed in our woodland garden as have the daffodils and tulips. Their places have been taken by Virginia bluebells and Siberian squills, by violets and bleeding hearts and delicate pasque flowers. The cherry and apricot have yielded to redbud and flowering crab and almond.

The spring volunteer week will be April 21-25. We look forward to seeing many of you even though we know it entails considerable expense on your part in terms of travel, lodging and meals. Already we have an invitation to Julie and Charlie Rohlfing’s.

The last Jottings alerted you to the fact that changes are afoot. Since then we have changed our name from The Danish Immigrant Archive to The Danish American Archive and Library. This new name more accurately reflects our mission and holdings.