Albert B. "Happy" Chandler, a Henderson County native born near Corydon, Kentucky, served as state senator and lieutenant governor before becoming governor in 1935 and 1955. He was a U.S. senator from 1939 to 1945. As baseball commissioner, he approved the contract that made Jackie Robinson the first modern black major league player in 1947, and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. A colorful orator and two-term governor, Chandler was the driving force behind establishment of the University of Kentucky Medical Center, later named in his honor. He was buried at Pisgah Presbyterian Church in Versailles, and Park Field in Henderson was the site of the 1996 Bambino World Series dedicated to "Happy" Chandler.