Viewed Through the Lens:

Primary Sources

Primary sources are important sources of information about individuals. Usually they are contemporary documents that relate to events in lives of the people named in them.

The museum and the Genealogy Center possess a varied collection of both official and private documents that describe the lives of immigrants in Denmark and America from the cradle to the grave.

Similar documents may still be in the hands of family members who wish to know what they are and how to use them to further their understanding of the life and experiences of their immigrant ancestors.

Here we show a number of these documents and explain what they are and the various ways they can be used in genealogical research.

Virgil Hansen, confirmed in Elk Horn Lutheran Church, 1943 Unidentified young woman, Kolding, Vejle County, 1870s Unidentified young woman, confirmed in Iowa, ca. 1900 Unidentified young woman, Aabenraa, Denmark (then Schleswig, Germany), ca. 1885 Unidentified young man, Christianshavn, Copenhagen County, 1870s Unidentified young man and probable siblings, Flensburg, Schleswig, probably ca. 1870s Unidentified confirmation group, Iowa, ca. 1890s Thyra Müller Rasmussen, confirmed in Immanuel Lutheran Church, Kimballton, Iowa, 1918 Haakon & Ida Stadsvold, confirmed at Oak Hill Lutheran Church, west of Brayton, Iowa, ca. 1924 Gerda Martine Vadsager (Wadsager), confirmed in Bethany Lutheran Church, Spencer, Iowa, 1921 Harry William Lindorff, confirmed in Alden, Minnesota, 1928 Henning "Palle" Jakobsen, confirmed in Bandholm Kirke, Lolland, Denmark, 1960 Immanuel Nielsen, confirmed in Ebenezer Methodist Church, Nexø, Bornholm, 1917 Inga Hildur Maria Bak-Jensen, confirmed in Kastellet parish, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1949 Karen Sofie Johansen, confirmed in Hyllinge parish, Sorø County, 1905 Niels Kristian Thorvald Mousing Jensen, confirmed in Aarhus Domkirke (Cathedral), 1915 Pastor Anders Hansen, Maple Valley, Oconto County, Wisconsin Rigmor Else Johanne Rasmussen, confirmed in Ringe parish on the island of Funen in 1913 Sune Schønnemann, Denmark Confirmation Classes - Confirmation Fashions, Elk Horn Lutheran Church over 50 years Andrew Nelson (Anders Nielsen) Christiansen, Hampton, Nebraska, 1906 Andy, Kai and Osa Nyby, confirmed in Hope Lutheran Church in Portage, Indiana Ane Margrethe Kristine Jensen (aka. Nielsen), confirmed in Klim parish, Thisted County, 1903 Anena "Nina" Caroline Carlsen, confirmed in Kennard, Nebraska, 1920 Anna Rasmussen, confirmed in Ajstrup parish, Aalborg County, 1930 Annette Rahbek Floystrup (Fløjstrup), confirmed in Immanuels Church, Kolding, Denmark, 1964 Betty Louise Starr, confirmed in Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Chicago, Illinois, June 9, 1946 Confirmation Class, St. Peter Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, Detroit, 1939 "Eleenore," Denmark, location unknown, 1877 David Johnson, confirmed in Immanuel Lutheran Church, Harlan, Iowa, 1965 Edele Ruth Johanne Larsen, confirmed in Rødby, Maribo County, Denmark, 1940 Elisabeth Marie Larsen and sister, Lora Ingrid Larsen, confirmed in Holden, Alberta, Canada, 1933 Elna Ragnhild Jensen, confirmed in Femø Kirke, Maribo County , Denmark, 1923 Erna Claire Jensen, confirmed in St. John's Lutheran Church, Cozad, Nebraska, 1948 Estella & Luvella Nielsen, Spring Valley Lutheran Church, Turner County, South Dakota, 1914 Fanny Hilda, Freda Bertha, and Godfred H. Hansen, Exira, Iowa Frederikke Amalie Lynggaard, confirmed in Farum church, Frederiksborg County, 2013