Retiring Illinois Quad Cities U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos is donating her artifacts and papers to Illinois College and the Dirksen Congressional Center, and establishing the Callahan-Bustos Family Endowed Scholarship Fund.
On Tuesday, Dec. 20, the 17th Congressional District congresswoman announced the gift of records and items of interest from her decade in Congress, in partnership with the nonpartisan Dirksen Congressional Center and Illinois College.
The Callahan-Bustos Family Endowed Scholarship Fund will be funded through a gift to the college, which will provide scholarships to students pursuing work for the public good.
For example, it will provide financial assistance annually to an Illinois College student or students pursuing fields such as nursing, agriculture, political science, communications, criminal justice or counseling.
“As an alumna of Illinois College and longtime partner to the bipartisan Dirksen Congressional Center, I am proud that my work will benefit the students and scholars of both respected institutions,” Ms. Bustos said in a news release.
“It is my hope that both this archived collection and the scholarship continue to build on my legacy of bipartisanship and public service,” added Ms. Bustos, who will be succeeded in Congress by Representative-elect Eric Sorensen on Tuesday, Jan 3.
Service was a family affair for the retiring Quad Cities based lawmaker who represented Northwestern Illinois in Congress. Her late father, Gene Callahan, was a highly respected political powerhouse in Illinois and Washington. He met and later married his life partner, Ms. Bustos’ mother, Ann, while both were students at Illinois College. Mr. Callahan died in 2014 and Mrs. Callahan died earlier this year on Oct. 30, 2022.
Illinois College and The Dirksen Center each will hold separate elements of the Bustos Collection. Illinois College will retain the congresswoman’s physical artifacts for display and research. The Dirksen Center will hold the physical and digital papers from her office for academic research.
Both institutions have committed to an ongoing partnership beginning with the Bustos Collection, with research opportunities for faculty and students at Illinois College once the papers are processed and open for viewing.
“We’re honored that Congresswoman Bustos has chosen The Dirksen Congressional Center to be the repository of her papers, extending to 90 years the unbroken legacy of bipartisan service chronicled in our collections,” Dirksen Center Executive Director Tiffany White said in the release.
She added: “From continuing the reputation for outstanding constituent service that’s a hallmark of west-central Illinois to her leadership role in Congress to her participation in some of the most consequential events of the past decade, Congresswoman Bustos’ papers will be a boon to scholars, journalists and everyday citizens looking to understand Congress.”
Ms. Bustos is a member of the Illinois College Congressional Hall of Fame “which celebrates the many public servants on both sides of the aisle whose achievement was inspired in our classrooms,” Illinois College President Barbara Farley said.
“We are proud to have been chosen to hold part of the Bustos Collection and to partner with the Dirksen Center to open new collaborative and research opportunities for our faculty and students,” she said. “The Congresswoman’s legacy of service will be carried forward, both in terms of the good work that will be generated by these collections and the scholarship opportunities she is providing at Illinois College.”
Since 1973, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Dirksen Congressional Center has promoted research and scholarship to advance the public understanding of the U.S. Congress, its people and its policies. Located in Pekin, Illinois, it holds the papers of its namesake, 1964 Civil Rights Act architect U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen, as well as those of House Minority Leader Bob Michel; U.S. Rep. and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood; and Time magazine congressional correspondent Neil MacNeil.
Founded in 1829, Illinois College is a residential liberal arts college fostering academic excellence rooted in opportunities for experiential learning that prepare students for meaningful lives of leadership and service. The college is located in Jacksonville.
With an enrollment of more than 1,000 students, Illinois College offers more than 50 undergraduate programs. In 1932, Phi Beta Kappa established a chapter at Illinois College, and it remains one of only 11 in the state. The college is home to the award-winning Khalaf al Habtoor Archives as well as the Paul Findley Congressional Office Museum.
