Nordic Heritage Museum

Nordic Heritage Museum

The entrance to the Nordic Heritage Museum with a sculpture by Finnish artist Eino Romppanen
Established	1980
Location	3014 NW 67th Street Seattle, Washington
Type	Heritage center
Director	Eric Nelson
President	Irma Goertzen
Public transit access	Metro bus #17X
Website	www.nordicmuseum.org

The Nordic Heritage Museum is a museum dedicated to the heritage of Seattle's Nordic immigrants, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish Americans. It was founded in 1980 and is in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The museum serves as a community gathering place and shares Nordic culture by exhibiting art and objects, preserving collections,and providing educational and cultural experiences.

Before it became the Nordic Heritage Museum in 1980, the red brick building was originally the Daniel Webster Elementary School from 1907 to 1979, when low student enrollment led to its closure. Fundraising and architecture plans are underway for a new building in downtown Ballard.

The non-profit museum's mission is to share "Nordic culture with people of all ages and backgrounds by exhibiting art and objects, preserving collections, providing educational and cultural experiences, and serving as a community gathering place." The founder and long-time director Marianne Forssblad retired in 2007. Eric Nelson followed her as executive director and Janet Rauscher became chief curator in 2008. In 2012, Lizette Gradén became the chief curator.

The museum published the NHM Historical Journal on a quarterly basis until 2011. In 2013 the museum published its first edition of the annual magazine Nordic Kultur.

The museum has also published books including Voices of Ballard and Beyond: Stories of Immigrants and Their Descendants in the Pacific Northwest published in 2012.

The Nordic Heritage Museum contains two libraries. The Walter Johnson Memorial Library was founded in 1980. As of 2011 it held 15500 books. It specializes in books published in Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish. Its special collection includes the Gordon Tracie Music Library and the Vanishing Generations Oral History Project. The Gordon Ekvall Tracie Music Library was founded in 1995. As of 2011 it contained 3000 audio/visual materials, 4000 music scores, 2500 books, and 40 periodical subscriptions. It focuses on folk customs, traditional dance, traditional music, folk art, and folk attire for Nordic cultures. Its special collections include the Gordon Ekvall Tracie History Collection, the Nordiska Folkdancers Collection, and the Skandia Folkdance Society Collection.