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UNI to create new Grassley Center for longtime U.S. senator’s political papers
‘We hope scholars and students will use my Senate papers as part of their research and teaching’
Sep. 10, 2025 1:23 pm
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CEDAR FALLS — Preparing to receive longtime U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s complete collection of political papers spanning 67 years, the University of Northern Iowa is seeking Board of Regents approval to start planning for a new Chuck and Barbara Grassley Center.
The goal, according to board documents, is to lay the groundwork now for an official request to establish the new center in September of 2026.
By serving as home for Sen. Grassley’s extensive archive — spanning his nearly seven decades of service in elected office, from the Iowa House of Representatives to the U.S. House of Representatives to the U.S. Senate — the new center aims to offer students, faculty, and the public an opportunity to study the legislative process, policymaking and the role of government institutions, according to regents documents.
“We hope scholars and students will use my Senate papers as part of their research and teaching,” Grassley said when he announced last year plans to gift his complete collection of political papers to UNI, where Grassley earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in political science in 1955 and 1956, respectively.
“With this gift, we hope to support the teaching and research mission of the University of Northern Iowa, allowing scholars and students the academic freedom to explore American government and public policy.”
The new Grassley Center will report to the Office of the President in positioning UNI “as a national hub for the study of democratic governance and public service, strengthening the university’s mission of preparing students to lead in Iowa, the nation and the world.”
The main action steps UNI plans to take in the coming months to prepare for the new center include establishing a planning committee, reviewing and analyzing the inventory, identifying space for the documents, strategizing a method for describing and digitizing the collection, and developing a budget for the new center.
A steering committee also would draft a vision and mission for the center, along with a governance structure, and begin engaging stakeholders and developing partnerships.
The university will spend the coming months fundraising, assessing the center’s staffing needs, and developing public-engagement programming.
Long-term, UNI plans to establish an advisory board, create a permanent endowment to ensure sustainability, and develop signature programs expanding its national reach.
‘Grassley’s public life’
Grassley, who turns 92 next week, was born on a farm in New Hartford in 1933 to a mom who was among the first four women in Iowa to vote in 1920.
He was first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1958 and was reelected seven times until running to represent Iowa in the U.S. House in 1974. After twice being reelected to the U.S. House, Grassley in 1980 ran for a U.S. Senate seat and beat incumbent John Culver.
Since that election, Grassley has won re-election seven times — making him the longest-serving Republican in congressional history and the oldest-sitting senator. And after his most recent election in 2022, Grassley filed paperwork to run again in 2028 — when he would be 95.
UNI in June of 1988 announced Grassley had chosen its Rod Library as the “official repository of his public papers” — with the goal to make the materials available for research.
As of early last year, UNI had received 248 boxes of Grassley’s pre-Senate documents and materials through 1980 — the first arriving in 1986. His more recent commitment affirmed his plans to donate the balance of his papers to UNI.
“Nearly all of the papers in this collection relate to Senator Grassley's public life,” according to a description of the scope and contents of Grassley papers in UNI possession now. “Documentation is fullest for his years of service in the United States House and Senate; the Iowa General Assembly years are less fully documented.”
Documentation includes “constituent correspondence” from 1976 to 1980; returned questionnaires from 1975 to 1978; and folders with information about abortion, private schools, collective bargaining and other topics.
“Senator Grassley intends that his papers be made available to researchers as soon as possible,” according to a “conditions governing access” clause. “However, in his deed of gift he also recognizes that access to some material must be restricted because of its sensitive or confidential nature.”
Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.
Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com
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