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Religion
The
Archive has the most extensive collection of materials
on the United Evangelical Lutheran Church. These
materials include district and convention reports,
official correspondence, records of some defunct
congregations (such as Golgotha), church publications,
individual church histories, and information on
institutions founded by that church body, such as Oaks
Indian Mission and Trinity Seminary. The Archive has both
convention reports and some church histories for the
American Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Danish
Baptist Church.
Culture
The
Archive has materials on a wide range of cultural
expressions. Books on food and recipe books describe
classic Danish recipes as well as their Americanized
cousins. Photos depict Danish folk dancing and Danish
modern design. The music collection ranges from the records
Peder Back played on his radio show to extensive
materials on the life of opera great Lauritz Melchior to concerts
by the Dana College Choir. The Archive has materials
documenting the annual Danish celebration of American
independence at Rebild, and a broad array of Christmas
annuals.
Education
The
Archive has extensive information on both Dana College
and Trinity Seminary. The materials include catalogs,
yearbooks, literary magazines, school newspapers, and
lists of students, professors, and staff. The Archive
also has materials on some of the folk high schools
founded by Danish immigrants, particularly Brorson and
Elk Horn. There is some material on children’s
homes, including Elim, as well as on Grand View
College.
Letters
The
Archive has a series of exceptionally rich collections
of correspondence. The Hansen-Mengers collection
contains 16,000 letters written from the late
nineteenth to the late twentieth century. The
Jorgensen-Sorensen and Walker-Johnson collections are
nearly as extensive.
These collections and others include regular
correspondence with family members both in Denmark and
the States. Many of these letters are in Danish,
though some have now been translated into English. The
Archive also has several detailed diaries both in
Danish and English.
Organizations
The Archive is the official repository of records of
the Danish Brotherhood and the Society of Danish
Engineers. It has information on other organizations,
including athletic clubs, women’s associations, and
the founding of the Danish Immigrant Museum.
Genealogy
The
Archive has a limited amount of genealogical
information. It has materials on people who were
buried in Washington County, Nebraska, pastors of the United
Evangelical Lutheran Church, and members of the Danish
Brotherhood. The Archive has a collection of
obituaries and family files, but it does not have
shipping lists. Minimum charge for a genealogical
search is $20.00.
Business, Industry Professions
Business
records include those of family farms, ranches,
construction companies, lumber companies and others. The Archive
has income tax records for some families and
individuals.
Books
The
Archive has a library of more than 10,000 books both in
Danish and English. They represent a broad range of
cultural themes, from art and architecture to
biography and cuisine. There is an extensive
collection of books published by Danish language
presses, such as the Lutheran Publishing House in
Blair, Nebraska. The Archive’s holdings include both
classic and contemporary Danish literature, from
Grundtvig and Kirkegaard to Hoeg and Stangerup. The
Archive also has a large collection of songbooks and
hymnbooks, as well as family Bibles. In addition, the
Archive has a substantial number of books dealing with
Danish immigrant history and religion, including
accounts of several North American communities with
extensive Danish populations. The Archive seeks to
collect books that were used by Danish immigrants,
whether or not the books are in Danish.
Periodicals
The
Archive’s collection covers more than 150 periodicals.
The largest concentration is on church publications,
both from the United Evangelical Lutheran Church and
the American Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Archive
also has the most comprehensive collection of Den Danske Pioneer, a Danish language newspaper published
since the 1870’s, a nearly complete collection of
the Danish Brotherhood magazine, and a number of
almanacs and Christmas annuals.
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