Projects & Publications

30th Anniversary Edition of

The Education of a Senator

FORWARD BY tHOMAS r. dIRKSEN

AFTERWARD BY DONALD RITCHIE

Years after Dirksen died unexpectedly in 1969, The Dirksen Congressional Center discovered a rough manuscript of the autobiography that the Senator had been crafting, which describes in his own voice and vivid with recollection the major moments of his life that ultimately shaped the person who won the “impossible” race for US Senate in 1950 against its Majority Leader Scott Lucas.

The Education of a Senator is a must-read for anyone drawn to the personal stories behind public figures, offering a deeper appreciation for the compelling blend of Dirksen’s everyday humanity and remarkable leadership. Originally published in 1998, this 30th anniversary edition includes a new introduction by Everett Dirksen’s nephew, Tom Dirksen, and an afterword from Senate Historian Emeritus Donald Ritchie. It also includes dozens of photos from Dirksen’s personal papers that add a new level of detail about his life. In the context of current events that are dramatically shaping the story of our country, The Education of a Senator is a remarkable testament to an individual who left an indelible impression on Congress.

The Dirksen Congressional Center is please to introduce a new generation of readers, public servants, and future historians to Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen with the publication of this new edition. Available September 1st, 2026 from the University Press of Kansas.

Everett McKinley Dirksen: A Gardener, a Baker, a National Law Maker

a children’s book, written by Corrie salmon, illustrated by peyton hornberger, and produced by the dirksen congressional center

Before Everett McKinley Dirksen was a United States senator, a congressman, a city council member, a lawyer, and a soldier, he was a boy from Pekin, Illinois, who worked in his family’s bakery and appreciated his garden. His earliest years provided the foundation for his character that persisted throughout his life and career, and those elements of his identity never faded, even as he went to Washington DC to pass important legislation including the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Education of a Senator is a must-read for anyone drawn to the personal stories behind public figures, offering a deeper appreciation for the compelling blend of Dirksen’s everyday humanity and remarkable leadership. Originally published in 1998, this 30th anniversary edition includes a new introduction by Everett Dirksen’s nephew, Tom Dirksen, and an afterword from Senate Historian Emeritus Donald Ritchie. It also includes dozens of photos from Dirksen’s personal papers that add a new level of detail about his life. In the context of current events that are dramatically shaping the story of our country, The Education of a Senator is a remarkable testament to an individual who left an indelible impression on Congress.

An inspiration for all ages, Everett Dirksen’s story is one of big impacts and humble beginnings that has been vividly brought to life through simple prose and colorful illustrations inspired by real photographs in the Dirksen Center archives. In partnership with Limelight Communications and with the support of other Pekin community organizations, the Dirksen Center is proud to publish this new hardback children’s book that will be gifted to Pekin school children and distributed throughout the Illinois library systems.

The Honorable Mister Marigold

a play by Wade Dooley, produced by the dirksen congressional center

Upcoming readings:

Olney Theater in Maryland, January 2027

It’s September 1969. Nixon is in the White House, the battle for Civil Rights continues, and the Vietnam War persists. As the world rages, legendary US Senator Everett Dirksen languishes from surgery and illness in the VIP Ward of Walter Reed Medical Center. When Carol, a young black TV reporter comes to interview the Senator, a lively exchange unfolds about history, faith, and the future. Over coffee and cold Chinese, Carol may discover that true friendships can blossom in the unlikeliest of places.

“The Honorable Mr. Marigold,” a play by Wade Dooley, was commissioned in 2021 by The Dirksen Congressional Center. Dooley conducted research for the play at the Center and crafted a narrative that—though mostly fictional—is comprised largely of Everett Dirksen’s actual spoken words in similar contexts. In times such as these, audiences will be thoroughly inspired by Dirksen’s words and forgotten wisdom, and they will be reminded that there is hope for the notion that there is more that unites us than that which divides us.

The Dirksen Center hosted an industry reading of the play in New York City in 2023 and a public reading in Pekin in 2024. It is currently working with the Olney Theater in Maryland to develop the work for a potential full production.

The American Congress Digital Archives Portal Project (ACDAP)

www.congressarchives.org

A collaboration of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress, the ACDAP is the first-of-its-kind online resource for students, educators, and academic researchers. It offers free, online access to some of the most influential primary source material from congressional papers collections that are scattered throughout the country. It also features historic photographs, video recordings, and professionally developed lesson plans based upon featured material.

Dirksen Center contributions include Senator Everett Dirksen’s working papers on civil rights legislation throughout the 1950s and 1960s; minutes and press conference transcripts from the Joint Senate-House Republican Leadership Committee throughout the 1960s; and transcripts and video of multiple interviews given by the senator. House Minority Leader Bob Michel’s “Blueprint for Leadership” and statements upon each of his seven elections to lead the GOP Conference are included, as are documents from his Congressional Delegation trips abroad from the 1950s through the 1990s. U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood’s documents related to the planning of four bipartisan House civility retreats and to U.S-Lebanon foreign policy have also been uploaded.

The portal’s early development was made possible through funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a Congressionally Directed Spending initiative, and the commitment of these partner institutions: West Virginia University Libraries, Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas, Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education, Carl Albert Center, University of Hawai’i at Manoa Library, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia, and The Dirksen Congressional Center.

Disruption?

A book edited by Sean M. Theriault

What happens when a tradition-bound institution encounters an iconoclastic president intent on changing how the government operates? In Disruption? Sean M. Theriault has gathered nineteen leading authors from a range of subfields to provide a compelling understanding for if, how, and to what extent Trump disrupted the Senate. As the authors argue, Trump became trapped in the norms and rules of the Senate on some dimensions, while he became the story to which all senators needed to respond on others. This book, commissioned and funded by The Dirksen Congressional Center and published by Oxford University Press, shows how multiple facets of the Senate changed during Trump’s presidency, including the legislative process, party leadership, roll-call voting, and communications. Comprehensive in its coverage of the period and embedding it in a deep historical context, this book highlights how these changes reflected back onto not only the Trump administration, but also the very legitimacy of the Senate itself.

Contributors

• Sean Theriault (Editor), Political Scientist, University of Texas – Austin
• Frank Mackaman, Historian Emeritus, The Dirksen Congressional Center
• Donald Richie, Historian Emeritus of the United States Senate
• Joseph Crespino, Political Historian, Emory University
• C. Lawrence Evans, Professor of Government, William & Mary
• Molly Reynolds, Political Scientist, Brookings Institute
• Frances Lee, Political Scientist, Princeton
• Bettina Poirier, Professor of Law, American University
• Christopher Bertram, Professor of Government, American University
• Craig Volden, Political Scientist, University of Virginia; Center for Effective Lawmaking
• Alan Wiseman, Political Scientist, Vanderbilt; Center for Effective Lawmaking
• James Wallner, Political Scientist, Clemson; R Street
• Julian Zelizer, Political Historian, Princeton
• Niels Lesniewski, DC Correspondent, Roll Call
• Annelise Russell, Political Scientist, University of Kentucky
• Lee Drutman, Political Scientist, New America
• Christina Bellantoni, Professor of Journalism, University of Southern California – Annenberg
• William Howell, Political Scientist, University of Chicago
• Terry Moe, Political Scientist, Stanford University