Quayle Vice Presidential Learning Center 30th Anniversary

The Quayle Vice Presidential Learning Center began as a vision of a small group of individuals meeting at Richards Restaurant in Huntington in October of 1989. This group then formed the Dan Quayle Commemorative Foundation, Inc. in 1990 with the objective to organize a display of Quayle memorabilia at the Huntington City-Township Public Library.

Following this library exhibit in 1991, The Dan Quayle Center and Museum (the original name) was planned, and opened to the public on June 17, 1993. It was officially dedicated October 16, 1993, and celebrates 30 years of operation and 175 years of the City of Huntington with a Community Open House August 26, 2023. The event will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. at The Quayle Vice Presidential Learning Center located at 815 Warren Street.

Vice President Dan Quayle was born in Indianapolis, spent much of his youth in Arizona, moved to Huntington along with his parents, James and Corinne Quayle, and graduated from Huntington High School in 1965. He then graduated from DePauw University in 1969 and Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis in 1974.

Vice President Quayle was an investigator for the Consumer Protection Division of the Indiana Attorney General’s Office in 1971, and later became an administrative assistant to then Governor Edgar Whitcomb. He also worked as associate publisher of the family newspaper, The Huntington Herald-Press, and practiced law with his wife, Marilyn (Tucker), in Huntington.

Vice President Quayle was elected to the United States Congress in 1976 at age 29, and was a United States Senator from 1981 to 1989. On January 20, 1989 he took the oath of office as the 44th Vice President of the United States at age 41 along with George H.W. Bush as President. The presidential campaign began in Huntington on August 20, 1988 on the Courthouse steps. Quayle served as vice president from 1989 to 1993.

The museum formed to educate the public not only about Vice President Quayle, but to help those who visit to learn about the Office of the Vice President and the histories of those who have held it. In 2002 the board of directors changed the original name to The Dan Quayle Center home of the United States Vice Presidential Museum. In 2009 the official name changed to The Quayle Vice Presidential Learning Center. It is located in a former Christian Science Church building in the Old Plat Historic District. The donated building was completely renovated and has two floors. The first features the history of all the vice presidents of the United States, while the second houses memorabilia and a theater.

Regular school programs are held in the Center and special attention is focused on the six vice presidents from Indiana, Schuyler Colfax, Thomas Hendricks, Charles Fairbanks, Thomas Marshall, Dan Quayle and Mike Pence, and the three losing vice presidential candidates, George W. Julian, William H. English and John W. Kern. Students also learn about the Constitution, symbols of the Nation and Indiana, the U.S. Congress and Senate, the election process and more. Educational outreach programs are also presented at various locations by the Center staff. Daniel Johns is the current executive director of the Center.