Fast Facts
Facts About the Dole Institute
- The Institute building incorporates 28,000 square feet of space: public programming areas, exhibit cases, reading room and staff offices on the main level, and archival storage (Dole Archive) and work areas on the lower level.
- The Visitors Hall consists of the Darby Gallery and Hansen Hall which offer displays and short videos capturing the life and times of Kansas and Senator Dole’s career.
- What’s the difference between KU’s Dole Institute and the Dole Center? Answer: 1.1 mile. The Dole Institute of Politics, 2350 Petefish Drive, is located on KU’s west campus near the Lied. The Dole Center on Sunnyside Drive/KU’s main campus, is a building which houses child development research entities, multi-use classrooms and the William Allen White media facilities.
- The Institute building was designed by Kansas City architect Steve Abend, ASIA Architecture.
- The Dole Archive, a 9,000 square foot vault with two miles of steel shelving, houses one of the Nation’s largest single collections of congressional papers – over 4,000 boxes of the Senator’s political and legislative documents..
- The cost of the Institute building was $11 million, $8 million of which came from private funds. The goal of achieving a $20 million endowment will ensure the future of the Dole Archive and ongoing Institute programs.
Gifts to us all
- Polly’s Pond: 32,000 sq. ft. reflecting pool, reminiscent of Washington, D.C. Tidal Basin, (Gift of Polly Bales of Logan, Kansas)
- Kansas State Seal: A 14-foot replica of the Kansas state seal crowns the building’s façade. (Gift of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation of Logan, Kansas)
- Darby Gallery: a gift of former Kansas United States Senator Harry Darby’s family.
- Russell Window: 20-foot-by-12-foot “Russell Window,” a stained-glass work of art evoking the landscape of Russell, Kansas (Dole’s hometown) and many similar western Kansas towns. Donated by the Senator in memory of his parents, Doran and Bina Dole.
- Kansas Granite Floor Map: 19-foot red granite floor map of Kansas (Gift of the Billings Family) with brass stars symbolizing the three towns of Russell Topeka, and Lawrence, all of which played an important role in Senator Dole’s life. (Gift of the Billings family).
- Hansen Hall: the main exhibit hall (Gift of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation of Logan, Kansas)
- American Flag Window: a 29-foot stained-glass American flag (Gift of KU Alumni Forrest and Sally Hoglund)
- World Trade Center Memorial: two 11 ½ foot columns salvaged from the Twin Towers. (Gift of KU Alumni Fred and Virginia Urban Merrill)
- At the opposite end of the central exhibit hall a 12-foot replica of the U. S. Capitol Dome (Gift of Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole) tops a multi-screen video “tour” of the legislative process, narrated by Bob Dole
- Rhodes Conference Room (Gift of Roland and Winona Rhodes)
- Simons Media seminar room (Gift of the Simons Family)
Contact Us
Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics