#22: The Danish Pioneer’s Countdown to Christmas 2013: Danish American Archive & Library in Blair, Nebraska preserves and treasures Christmas memories from the past and today

What was it like to celebrate Christmas for the earliest Danish immigrants to America? With the rapidly developing technology today, who is preserving and treasuring the Christmas memories of present day? The answer is the Danish American Archive & Library (DAAL), 1738 Washington Street, Blair, Nebraska 68008.

(Photo courtesy Danish American Archive & Library)

At www.danishamericanarchive.com, you can find out how the Danish Immigrant Archive and Library (DAAL) is different than the Museum of Danish America. You can find out about the DAAL’s mission, history, holdings, collections, donations and the availability of books through DAAL’s publishing arm, Lur Publications.

According to www.danishamericanarchive.com, the main goal of the Danish Immigrant Archive and Library is to collect, preserve and make available to the public letters, financial records, books, periodicals, diaries, memoirs deeds, recordings photographs and films, among other things, of Danish Americans from the time of the earliest immigrants from Denmark to the present day. The collections include not only those of institutions and widely recognized individuals, but also those of the vast majority of the population who are the real determiners of belief, culture and history–housewives, laborers, farmers and business people as well as pastors, professors, engineers and artists to mention a few.

The Danish American Archive & Library is the official repository for the Danish Brotherhood of America, the Danish Sisterhood of America, and the American Society of Danish Engineers. They also have the most complete collection of Den Danske Pioneer/The Danish Pioneer, the oldest Danish language newspaper published in the USA.

(Photo courtesy Danish American Archive & Library)

Did you know that the recent Danish American Archive & Library Photo Exhibit entitled “Danish Children Growing Up American” is available for display to other organizations?

Danish Children Growing Up American, DAAL’s spectacular photo exhibit concluded October 25, 2013 after approximately a month and a half on display at the University of Nebraska’s Criss Library. UNO and the DAAL collaborated to create a compelling display of photographs based on the lives of Danish immigrant children in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

(Photo courtesy Danish American Archive & Library)

Twenty double-sided panels, 4 feet wide and 8 feet tall, were filled with approximately 50 photos of beautiful Danish immigrant children caught by the cameras of the day in many aspects of their lives from birth, through secular and religious education, everyday life on farms and in town, at play, on family vacations, and in formal portraits. The exhibit attracted hundreds of spectators who were universally complimentary.

This exhibit is portable and available to other organizations for display. If you are interested in hosting it, please contact the DAAL at info@danishamericanarchive.com or call 402-426-7910.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Danish American Archive & Library — Where Christmas Memories Are Treasured and Preserved!