Jensen Arctic Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1985 |
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| Location | Monmouth, Oregon, United States |
| Type | Arctic |
| Visitors | 4,000 (2006–07) |
The Paul H. Jensen Arctic Museum was a special museum in Monmouth, Oregon. It taught people about the culture and environment of the Arctic. The museum was located on the campus of Western Oregon University (WOU). It opened in 1985 with many interesting items. These items were collected by its founder, Paul Jensen.
The museum had about 5,000 artifacts. It showed exhibits about Arctic wildlife. It also displayed the culture of the Inuit and Eskimo peoples from Alaska. This museum was one of only two Arctic-focused museums in the lower 48 states. It was the only one on the West Coast. In 2013, WOU announced that the museum would close. Its collections moved to the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Eugene.
Museum History
The Jensen Arctic Museum opened in June 1985. It was started by Paul Jensen. He collected the artifacts over 25 years while working as a researcher and teacher. Many items were gifts from native Alaskans. Jensen was a retired professor at Western Oregon. He was the museum's curator and director until he passed away in 1994. By 1993, the museum had 3,000 artifacts. About 7,000 people visited it each year.
In 1995, the museum celebrated its ten-year anniversary. They held a party with traditional Eskimo dancers. In 1997, the museum received a federal grant. This money helped them take better care of their artifacts.
In 2005, the museum hosted a special event. It was called the Whale in Science and Culture Symposium. Speakers from the Oregon Coast Aquarium and Oregon State University attended. Each year, the museum held a traditional salmon bake. This event was a fundraiser. They cooked 300 pounds of salmon every year. The 28th salmon bake was in 2013. At this event, it was announced that the museum's collection would move. It went to the University of Oregon's museum. This museum is the official place for state-owned collections.
Amazing Collections
The museum focused on the culture of the Inuit and Eskimos from Alaska. It had over 5,000 artifacts. These were kept in a former home on the Western Oregon University campus. The items showed the natural environment of these native Alaskans.
To show the environment, one room was dedicated to Arctic wildlife. This room was called the Circumpolar Room. It had a life-sized diorama. A diorama is a model that shows a scene in 3D. This one had an automated system. It told stories about Arctic animals. Lights shined on models of these animals. Animals on display included musk ox, wolves, Arctic fox, and a polar bear. There were also brown bears, a snowy owl, and caribou.
A very special item was a 27-foot-long umiak. An umiak is an Inuit boat. Its frame is made of driftwood. It is covered with walrus skins. People from St. Lawrence Island gave this boat to Paul Jensen. He used it to travel around the island during a native hunt. Other large items included a traditional Inuit home. It was built from stones, hides, whalebone, and driftwood. There was also an 11-foot-long sled and a sod house.
The museum also showed the daily lives of the Inuit and Eskimos. This included the Inupiaq and Yupik Eskimos. Exhibits showed their clothing and artwork. Artifacts included ivory carvings and parkas. There were jackets made of seal, wolf, and bear skins. A yo-yo-type children's toy was also on display. An anchor made from a whalebone was another interesting item. Other items included ropes, ivory from mammoth tusks, and animal bones. There were also ceremonial masks, wooden dolls, mukluks, and combs. Knives and harpoon heads were also part of the collection. You could also see a dog sled, kayak, and snowshoes. Baskets, toys, and artwork were also there. The artwork included drawings on sealskins using ink. Some of these pieces were from the 1930s.
Who Was Paul Jensen?
The museum was named after its founder, Paul Henry Jensen. He was an immigrant from Denmark. As a child in Denmark, he had several classmates who were Inuit. Jensen was born on August 17, 1907, in Teestrup, Denmark. He moved to Canada in 1925 but returned in 1927. He served in the army for seven months. Then he moved to the United States in 1928. Jensen arrived at Ellis Island in 1928. He then moved to Montana. He started college at Spokane College in Washington State. In 1935, he earned a bachelor's degree from Midland College. In 1938, he got a doctorate from the University of North Dakota. He married Arlene Munkres. They had two sons and three daughters.
After more studies, Jensen began working in the Arctic. Starting in 1962, he worked to help the Eskimo people. He brought over 3,000 people to Oregon. He also set up seven libraries in Alaskan villages. He spent over 30 years teaching Eskimo children in Alaska. In 1966, he was hired at Western Oregon State College. This is now Western Oregon University. He became a professor there in 1968. Jensen retired from teaching in 1979. For his work with native Alaskans, he was honored. He became an honorary member of the Alaska Council of Elders in 1984. The Eskimos knew him as Angyalik. This means "captain of the ship." The next year, he founded the museum with his artifacts. He was its curator and director until he passed away on September 26, 1994.
