By Lillian Metzmeier
Aug. 13, 2025
An archive collection containing materials from U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, has been expanded at the University of Louisville.
Originally created in 2009, the Senator Mitch McConnell and Secretary Elaine L. Chao Archives, or the McConnell Chao Archives, preserve a variety of records housed in a permanent section in the UofL Ekstrom Library. The expansion, funded in part by a private donor, allows for more capacity in the space and includes a new constructive storage room for the archives and a new digital processing room for archivists, according to a news release.
“It won’t surprise you all to know, I hope, that I didn’t get into this line of work to put my name on a building. We needed an archive largely because I never threw anything away,” McConnell said during an Aug. 12 news conference. “This expansion illustrates that I haven’t changed my ways.”
Chao, who previously served as U.S. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Transportation, immigrated to America from Taiwan at 8 years old and was the first Asian-American woman to serve in a cabinet-level position.
“It may seem strange now to say I wondered for the longest time if I would ever find my place in America. Well, I did find my place in America — and it’s home, here in Kentucky,” Chao said. “I am so proud that with the expansion of this archive, (McConnell’s) extraordinary accomplishments will continue to inform and inspire leaders for generations to come.”
The expansion “significantly enhances the functionality and the accessibility of two very important collections,” McConnell Center Director Gary Gregg said. McConnell created the McConnell Center in 1991 to prepare students for leadership through a nonpartisan academic program.
While records are still being processed, the interactive Civic Education Gallery allows visitors to experience archival materials first-hand. Visitors can take a computer-generated citizenship test, view films about McConnell and Chao’s lives and watch and evaluate campaign commercials.
McConnell’s archive materials include papers from his time at duPont Manual High School and UofL and extend into his political career, but also includes family photos and office artifacts.
Archives from Chao illuminate pieces of the immigration process as well as evidence her time adjusting to the United States and becoming a political leader.
“These archives will serve not just as a record of two extraordinary lives of public service, but as a dynamic and living resource, I think, for students, scholars and citizens who seek to learn more about American history and government and politics and the challenges of political leadership,” Gregg said.
The Civic Education Gallery is located on the lower level and east wing of UofL’s Ekstrom Library, 2215 S. Third St and is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
