Jensen Arctic Museum

Paul H. Jensen was born August 17, 1907 in Teestrup, on the Isle of Sealand, Denmark. This fifth son of a farmer had two sisters. Paul's father wanted him to be "a good soldier". Paul had other ideas...he wanted to be an explorer.

Paul immigrated from Denmark to the United States as a teenager, attending Spokane College in 1928. Later, he earned a PhD in Education.

Dr. Jensen acquired his collections over the course of 30 years of travel to the Arctic as an education consultant to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He worked with teachers to develop bilingual and Yupi'k and Inupiat language materials for elementary students. He also developed and conducted a cultural exchange program for Alaska Native students to visit Oregon.

The Jensen Arctic Museum was started through Dr. Jensen's efforts, with his collection as the nucleus. He served as the volunteer curator until his death in 1994. More than 90 additional donors have added to the collections.

The museum has a professional curator who manages the museum with the help of student interns and a museum assistant. The museum relies primarily on memberships and donations for its operating costs, with Western Oregon University providing about half of the support required.