10/19/2008:
Shortly after moving to North Dakota in 1901, Danish immigrant Jens Dixen gained an international reputation as a prolific evangelist, missions worker and teacher. Among the many positions he held while living in North Dakota was a short term as president of Brorson Folk School near Kenmare. While serving at the school, he moved into a nearby 10x14 foot, one-room cabin.
Nearly a century later, the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa began looking for a homesteader’s cabin. The Jens Dixen House seemed a perfect fit. Founded in 1983 to preserve the history of Danish immigration to America, the museum acquired the North Dakota cabin and moved it to Iowa in 1999.
After several years of researching Dixen’s life and securing the appropriate furnishings for his former home, the Jens Dixen House was dedicated in a grand opening on this day, October 19, 2007.
Written by Christina Sunwall
Sources:
"Jens Dixen House Opens to Visitors." America Letter: The Danish Immigrant Museum XX, no. 4 (Summer 2007): 10.
Kirsten Madsen, Knud Madsen. Han Sled Bibler Som Sko (He Wore out Bibles Like Shoes): Forlaget Savanne, 1995.
"Museum Collections & Exhibits", The Danish Immigrant Museum http://www.danishmuseum.org/index.html.