(Elk Horn) The Danish Windmill Board of Directors is pleased to name Shaun Sayres of Harlan, to serve as the next museum manager. He will succeed longtime manager, Lisa Steen Riggs, who has been with the windmill after its arrival at Elk Horn in 1976.
Sayres earned his Master of Arts in American History from the University of New Hampshire and is enrolled as a Ph.D. candidate in Clark University’s doctoral program in American history. He has a comprehensive knowledge of northern European culture, technology, and migrations, including windmills and Atlantic crossings. He is currently writing his dissertation on steamboats and westward expansion, including the use of steamboats by European immigrants in the nineteenth-century.
Sayres’ qualifications in public history are supplemented by substantial experience in retail and customer service. He also acquired technical skills such as woodworking, electrical, plumbing which will be valuable in identifying and troubleshooting issues relating to the historic preservation needs of the 1848 windmill.
Since moving to Harlan in 2021, in addition to conducting research for his thesis, Sayres has taught at Harlan Community School District, Tri-Center Community School District in Neola, and volunteers for the Shelby County Historical Museum. As a trained historian with a commitment to history education and public engagement with history, he looks forward to carrying on the successes of the Danish Windmill as a renowned public archive of Danish-American culture and heritage.
Originally built in Nørre Snede in 1848, the Danish Windmill museum has remained a staple of Elk Horn’s vibrant Danish community, drawing thousands of tourists to Elk Horn every year.
