Museum of Danish America Receives Highest National Recognition
Awarded Accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums

ELK HORN, Iowa – In a live Facebook video Wednesday, staff of the Museum of Danish America announced that the organization has achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public.
Alliance Accreditation brings national recognition to a museum for its commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards and continued institutional improvement. Developed and sustained by museum professionals for over 45 years, the Alliance’s museum accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. It strengthens the museum profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely, and remain financially and ethically accountable in order to provide the best possible service to the public.

“Accreditation is a tribute to all who have helped the museum get this far - one step at a time, little by little,” Executive Director Rasmus Thøgersen stated. “We are deeply grateful to all the past and present board members, the staff, the interns, the volunteers, and our great local community for all the support we have gotten throughout the years.”

Of the nation’s 35,000 museums, less than 3 percent are accredited. In western Iowa only four Sioux City museums share the honor.

Accreditation is a very rigorous but highly rewarding process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. To earn accreditation a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, and then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers. The Alliance’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, considers the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.

“Accredited museums are a community of institutions that have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to excellence,” said Laura L. Lott, Alliance president and CEO. “Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement, of which both the institutions and the communities they serve can be extremely proud.”

Lott personally congratulated the museum with a live video on her Twitter account  Wednesday.

The Museum of Danish America was organized in 1983 as the Danish Immigrant Museum. In 1994 it opened its half-timbered facility on the west edge of Elk Horn and has grown its collection to more than 35,000 artifacts relating to Danish-American experience. Its exhibits regularly tour the nation, and its Genealogy Center conducts professional research and translations for patrons near and far.

In 2013 the new name was adopted, and in the next year it opened the adjoining James R. And Cecilia Christensen Curatorial Center to meet expanding needs. Atop the Curatorial Center is an atypical, prairie-style green roof that is part of the museum’s 35-acre Jens Jensen Prairie Landscape Park. The museum also operates a 1908 historic house museum in Elk Horn, Bedstemor’s House, which is open daily Memorial Day through Labor Day.

A decade-long internship program for Danish and American graduate students was mentioned as a particular point of pride by Executive Director Emeritus John Mark Nielsen upon his retirement this January. The museum is presently undergoing a renovation of its main exhibits, to be completed in May. Three temporary exhibits are currently open each day, and more information can be found at danishmuseum.org.

"Accreditation of the national museum dedicated to Danish American culture will benefit all Danish Americans, and we are very proud to hold our heads – and glasses – high as we continue to fulfill our mission of celebrating Danish roots and American dreams," Thøgersen said.

About the American Alliance of Museums
The American Alliance of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. Representing more than 35,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions and corporate partners serving the museum field, the Alliance is the only organization representing the entire scope of the broad museum community. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.