Frank L. McVey and the University of Kentucky: A Progressive President and the Modernization of a Southern University

Photo Section

Frank L. McVey (front and center), shortly after his arrival at UK. McVey oversaw the development of the ROTC, which continued after the conclusion of World War I. (KUKUARP1998UA001 -224-0006, University of Kentucky Archives) The University Commission. McVey assembled a group of educational leaders and newspaper reporters to travel to the Midwest and report on what was being done at leading universities, hoping to use the information gathered to support his plan for increased state support. The commission recommended that the state supply $8 million for campus improvements to match the work being done at universities like Illinois and Wisconsin. (KUKUARP-2001UA025-6435, University of Kentucky Archives) University Council, 1922. First row (left to right): Frances Jewell, dean of women; Robert W. Bingham, LLD; Frank McVey, president; Glanville Terrell, professor emeritus of Greek and philosophy; Paul P. Boyd, dean of arts and sciences. Second row (left to right): Franklin E. Tuttle, professor emeritus of chemistry; Columbus R. Melcher, dean of men; Thomas Poe Cooper, dean of agriculture and director of the agriculture experiment station; Ezra Gillis, registrar; Edwin Freeman, acting dean of engineering; George Roberts, assistant dean of agriculture. (KUKUARP1998UA001 -224, University of Kentucky Archives) Frances Jewell, dean of women, working at her desk shortly before her marriage to McVey. At that time it was presumed that she would give up her deanship to serve as first lady of the university. (KUKUARP1998UA001 -368-0182, University of Kentucky Archives) Constructed in 1924, Alumni Gymnasium provided ample space for crowds at basketball games. Adolph Rupp began his coaching career in Alumni Gymnasium when he came to UK in 1930. (KUKUARP-1998UA001-102-0007, University of Kentucky Archives) The basement of Alumni Gymnasium housed the university bookstore and post office until torrential rains caused severe flooding in 1928. (KUKUARP2001UA068 -01-034, University of Kentucky Archives) Opened in 1928, McVey Hall was named to honor the work that the president had accomplished in his first decade at UK. It originally included classroom buildings and office space, along with a cafeteria and a bookstore. (KUKUARP-1998UA002-1305, University of Kentucky Archives) The inaugural game at McLean Stadium (Stoll Field) against intrastate rival Centre College on 1 November 1924. The field was named for longtime board member Richard Stoll, the stadium for Price McLean, a football player who died from head injuries suffered during a game in 1923. Plans for the football stadium had to be scaled back because of the skyrocketing cost of Alumni Gymnasium. (KUKUARP1998UA002 -2881A1924, University of Kentucky Archives) Dedicated in 1929, Memorial Hall was built with funds from a campaign drive that McVey had started a decade earlier in order to honor the fallen soldiers of World War I. Alumni and interested citizens first desired to build facilities for UK’s basketball and football teams. (KUKUARP-1998UA001-141, University of Kentucky Archives) The Education Building (opened in 1930) was built with a $150,000 grant from the General Education Board and matching appropriations from the state government. It would later be named in honor of William S. Taylor, who was recruited by McVey and served as dean of the College of Education for many years. (KUKUARP-1998UA0021421B , University of Kentucky Archives) The University Library (later named the Margaret I. King Library in honor of King’s long service as librarian to the university) was dedicated on 23 October 1931. It served as the crown jewel of McVey’s first building campaign, despite the fact that it had been constructed without any state funding. (KUKUARP-1998UA001-137-0005, University of Kentucky Archives) (Left to right) Herman Lee Donovan, president of Eastern State Teachers College; John Howard Payne, president of Morehead Normal School; President McVey; and Henry H. Cherry, president of Western Kentucky Teachers College. McVey’s relationship with the leaders of the state teachers colleges, especially Cherry, was often strained, as these presidents competed for meager state appropriations. (KUKUARP1998UA001 -250-0004, University of Kentucky Archives) Frank McVey poses with Mildred and A. B. “Happy” Chandler during a luncheon at Maxwell Place after a board meeting. The McVeys also invited legislators from the surrounding counties. Chandler, who had just been elected governor at the age of thirty-seven, was very interested in supporting the athletic programs at UK, but he did not provide McVey with the budget...