Dole Institute exhibits chronicle senator's career from boyhood to statesman

LAWRENCE -- Former Sen. Bob Dole's achievements, from his Russell boyhood to his decades of leadership in Congress, are chronicled in the exhibits and audiovisual programs in the new Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics. The institute will be dedicated in special events July 19 through 22 at the University of Kansas.

The more than 20 exhibits include five video programs that interpret key experiences in Dole's life. The videos also broaden the focus to examine Dust Bowl Kansas, the impact of television on American politics, and -- in a stunning multi-screen treatment beneath a large-scale replica of the Capitol dome in Washington, D.C. -- how the legislative process works. Dole's voice can be heard narrating most of the videos.

The public will be able to view the institute exhibits during the four-day dedication events: from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 19; from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, July 20; and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, July 21. World War II and other veterans will maintain an all-night vigil from 11 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday at the institute. Following the dedication on Tuesday, the building will be open from 3 to 9 p.m. The institute's regular hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, begin Wednesday, July 23.

Split Rock Studios, a St. Paul, Minn., firm that also created exhibits for the Sternberg Museum in Hays and the presidential libraries for Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and Herbert Hoover, worked with Dole Institute Director Richard Norton Smith to create the displays. In keeping with the Dole Institute of Politics' emphasis on public service and the renewal of the democratic process, many displays were designed with young people in mind. This commitment is most dramatically defined by the nation's largest stained-glass American flag (12 feet wide and 29 feet high), which provides a backdrop for a display of Dole's uniform and medals from WWII. Two 10-foot sections of columns retrieved from the World Trade Center flank the uniform case, a powerful reminder of the tests that confront each generation.

Nearly 1,000 photos of WWII veterans from Kansas are displayed on the Memory Wall at the building's entrance, near a stained-glass window (12 feet wide and 20 feet high) depicting Dole's hometown of Russell. The Russell window was a gift from Dole in memory of his parents. Again working with the institute director, Split Rock Studios designed both stained-glass windows. SGO Design Studio of St. Paul, Minn., fabricated the windows from those designs.

Most of the exhibits are located in Hansen Hall, a dramatic 3,300-square-foot space named for the Dane G. Hansen Foundation of Logan. The hall can serve as a public forum, capable of seating 250 theater-style or 120 for a sit-down meal.

A sampling of the exhibits chronicling Dole's career include:

"Fighting Back," presents a six-minute video dramatically re-creating the events of April 14, 1945, when Dole was wounded in combat, and his long postwar convalescence. This exhibit displays homemade exercise equipment that a friend created for Dole's use in rebuilding his shattered body. The equipment was moved from Russell, where it had been fixed to a backyard fence, to Lawrence this year.

"You'll Never Walk Alone" contains the cigar box that was placed in a Russell store window by Dole's neighbors to help defray his postwar medical expenses. A remarkable Chicago surgeon named Hampar Kelikiar ("Dr. K") performed seven operations at no charge. But there were other medical bills that the Dole family could not afford. Russell residents established a Bob Dole Fund, ultimately raising more than $1,800. For more than 40 years, Dole kept the cigar box in his Washington desk.

"Statesman/Pitchman" offers a glimpse of Dole's life since 1996. It includes the Medal of Freedom presented to him by President Bill Clinton in January 1997, the nameplate from his dressing room at the Tonight Show, the storyboard for a popular Visa commercial and a video capturing the former senator's humorous side -- right down to his latest Pepsi commercial, co-starring Britney Spears.

"Legacy of Leadership" contains a partial list of major legislation that Dole influenced or personally crafted during his 36 years on Capitol Hill. The list begins at floor level and rises through the case and beyond. This is also the concluding display. It examines another part of the Dole legacy -- the Dole Institute of Politics itself, established not only to honor the man whose name it bears, but also to encourage future generations to emulate his example of public service.

Other exhibits cover Dole's eight years as Russell County attorney; his successful 1960 congressional campaign and his eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives, his 1968 Senate election and subsequent rise to Senate majority leader, his party leadership, Watergate; his marriage to the former Elizabeth Hanford; the 1976 presidential campaign in which he was Gerald Ford's running mate; and his 1996 bid for the presidency.

More details about the instituteÿs exhibits will be posted at the Dole Media Kit site, www.dolemedia.ku.edu, later today.

For more information about the event visit www.doleinstitute.org/dedication or www.dolemedia.ku.edu.