About the McChesney Field Campus: History & News

The McChesney Family

The McChesney family has shared a long history with Western Kentucky University that began in 1927 when Hardin Field McChesney, Sr. was employed as a professor. McChesney, Sr. taught several languages at WKU, including French, Spanish and German, until his retirement in 1959. The family lived in a house on Normal Street and the McChesney children thought of the WKU campus as their own backyard playground. Of the eight children, six were WKU alumni, and from 1927 to the early 1980s, at least one McChesney child attended classes on the Hill continuously.

McChesney, Sr. acquired this property in Anna, KY, and enjoyed its serenity with family and colleagues. In 2009, the family donated the 140-acre plot of land along the Green River to WKU, and the Hardin Field and Lucy Blair McChesney Campus was dedicated to be used as a unique outdoor experiential learning environment. The family expressed their wishes that every discipline and department at WKU be welcomed to utilize the land to enhance the overall educational experience.

 

May it be enjoyed for generations to come and may it strengthen and advance Western Kentucky University, our community, our Commonwealth and our nation.

 

Hardin Field McChesney, Jr.

Field McChesney, Jr. was a strong s supporter of WKU and championed the effort with the family to donate this valuable resource to the institution. He started at Western Kentucky State Teachers College (now Western Kentucky University) after graduating from College High in 1939. He was called into service as a radio operator on a B-17 heavy bomber with the Army Air Corps during World War II. Field returned to his alma mater following the war and completed his bachelors degree in 1946. After graduation he worked as a teacher, a child welfare worker, and as a newspaper reporter in Kentucky and Indiana. He worked under three Kentucky Governors including Lawrence W. Wetherby, Bert T. Combs, and Edward T: Breathitt. Field was chief administrative assistant for the majority of the Breathitt administration.

His political career continued as Field accepted a position in Washington, D.C., working for the second campaign of President Lyndon B. Johnson, Field remained in Washington for another two decades serving in various positions in the Veterans Administration.

He and his wife, Marilyn, moved back to Frankfort, KY, after his retirement and back to Bowling Green in 2003. In 2019, Field donated the funding to build a multipurpose pavilion on the be named in honor of the eldest of the McChesney family children, Mary McChesney Kindell. He also ensured the future of the pavilion and field campus by contributing funds to provide a maintenance endowment to support the property and structure so it can be enjoyed by many future generations of Hilltoppers. Field died at age 98 on December 2, 2019.

 

Mary McChesney Kindell

Mary McChesney Kindell graduated from Western Kentucky State Teachers College in 1934 with a Bachelor's degree. In 1947, she met and married her husband of 56 years, Carl B. Kindell. They moved to Butler County and Mary taught at Monroe High School, sponsoring The Monroe Doctrine paper. Continuing at Middletown High School, she became the advisor to The Middletonian for 17 years. During that time, the paper won first place in the School Press Association 12 times and was named "All American" six times. Her most famous student is Clarence Page, columnist and editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune. He acknowledged her inspiration in his 1996 book Showing My Color. She retired from teaching in 1980.

Mary valued education and was a member of the Guided Study Club, the Critique Literary Club, and the Women's Teachers Club. As chair of the Ecumenical Celebration, she planned and led the World Day of Prayer, World Friendship Day and World Community Day program. In 2006, she was honored by the Middletown Church Women United with the National Valiant Woman Award.

Mary McChesney Kindell died Saturday, April 7, 2018 at the age of 103. Her legacy is memorialized with the Mary McChesney Kindell Pavilion at the McChesney Field Campus.

In the News