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LAWRENCE -- A $300,000 gift from a longtime friend of former Sen. Bob Dole will enable the Robert J. Dole Institute for Politics at the University of Kansas to undertake an oral history project of unprecedented scope.
The gift from Dwayne Andreas and the Andreas Family Foundation of Mankato, Minn., will support the Dole Institute in its efforts to record the memories and insights of Dole, his associates and numerous other figures whose stories reflect the full range of Kansas politics and government in the 20th century.
Richard Norton Smith, director of the Dole Institute, said the projects would complement the research opportunities presented by Dole's papers, which also will be housed at the Dole Institute.
"Anyone who has ever wanted to sit down with a tape recorder and interview Grandmother knows what I'm talking about," Smith said. "We'll be talking to grandmothers, as well as governors, current and former legislators, lobbyists, policymakers, spin doctors, journalists and just about anyone else who has helped to shape Kansas and its public life over the last half-century."
Gov. Bill Graves, who will sit down with interviewers over the course of three days next month, will be the first Kansas governor to record his memories while still in office. Assisting in the interviews will be veteran journalists Lew Ferguson and Emerson Lynn. Several of Graves' colleagues, including Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer, also will be interviewed.
In addition, the Institute has contacted all four living former Kansas governors -- John Anderson Jr., William Avery, John Carlin and Mike Hayden -- in the hopes of recording them. Smith said he is confident the former governors will participate in the project.
Graves will be on the KU campus Oct. 17, when the Dole Institute sponsors a Roundtable of Kansas Governors as part of the Kansas Economic Policy conference, organized by KU's Policy Research Institute. Anderson, Avery and Hayden will join Graves for a freewheeling discussion of the state's current fiscal problems and economic prospects.
The roundtable, which begins at 9 a.m. in Woodruff Auditorium of the Kansas Union, is free and open to the public. Because seating is limited, tickets are required. Free tickets can be obtained from the KU Policy Research Institute, the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, KU Continuing Education and all KU ticket outlets, including Student Union Activities, (785) 864-7469, and the Lied Center, (785) 864-2787.
For details about the Roundtable of Kansas Governors and the rest of the Kansas Economic Policy Conference, visit the 2002 Kansas Economic Policy Conference site or call (785) 864-5823 or toll-free (877) 404-5823.
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