Dole Institute Archive releases new online political documents for students
LAWRENCE — The Robert J. Dole Institute Archive and Special Collections at the University of Kansas has created online samples of primary source documents from the Dole Collection. The guides are available on the Dole Archive website at dolearchive.ku.edu/research/historyday.
Topics include civil rights, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Social Security, NAFTA, the Vietnam War, World War II and several others. The topical resources are intended to be used by students and teachers across Kansas to help students learn about primary source documents and encourage archival research for K-12 students.
"Studying the papers of Senator Dole is a great way for elementary and secondary students to experience national and international politics" said Dole Archive senior archivist Audrey Coleman. "The documents that make up Dole's papers are a testament to their era and a lens through which people of all ages may witness history."
Topics were selected based on the 2013 History Day theme "Turning Points in History: People, Ideas, Events." National History Day is an academic program for elementary and secondary school students. Students choose historical topics related to a theme and conduct extensive research through libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews and historic sites. After analyzing their sources and drawing conclusions, students present their work in original papers, websites, exhibits, performances and documentaries. These projects are entered into competitions on the local, state and national levels where they are evaluated by professional historians and educators.
The Dole Archive is one of the nation's largest collections of papers and artifacts for a nonpresidential politician. It contains the complete records of Dole's political and post-political career — including schedules, legislative research files, correspondence, memos, speeches, press materials, briefing books and other materials. The archive also holds a photo collection consisting of 25,000 images, an audio/visual collection, an extensive collection of oral histories, as well as a large collection of art, artifacts and textiles.