Eleanor Anderson Campbell (1878–1959, née Eleanor Milbank Anderson) was the founder and director of the

Judson Health Center Judson Health Center, founded in 1921, was an early New York City Community Health Center inspired by the Rev. Alonzo Ray Petty of the Baptist Judson Memorial Church located at 55 Washington Square South. Petty appealed to fellow Baptist and p ...

(1921), a health and dental clinic serving residents of the lower west side of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. First located in the basement of the

Judson Memorial Church The Judson Memorial Church is located on Washington Square South between Thompson Street and Sullivan Street, near Gould Plaza, opposite Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhatt ...

south of Washington Square, by 1924 the Center was the largest clinic of its kind in the United States. The Center provided healthcare through over one million visits to the largely Italian immigrant population between 1921 and 1957, when Campbell retired. Campbell refused any wages for her services. In 1957, Dr. Campbell was awarded the

Star of Italian Solidarity The Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity ( ) was founded as a national order by the first President of the Italian Republic, Enrico De Nicola, in 1947, to recognise civilian and military expatriates or foreigners who made an outstanding con ...

by the Italian government for her contributions to Italian-Americans.

Early life

Campbell was the daughter of philanthropist

Elizabeth Milbank Anderson Elizabeth Milbank Anderson (December 20, 1850 – February 22, 1921), American philanthropist and advocate for public health and women's education, was the daughter of Jeremiah Milbank (1818–1884), a successful commission merchant, manufacture ...

(1850–1921) and artist

Abraham Archibald Anderson Abraham Archibald Anderson (1846 – 1940) was an American artist, rancher and philanthropist. Biography Anderson was born in New Jersey as one of ten children of William Anderson (1814 – 1887), a civil engineer turned Dutch Reformed Churc ...

(1846–1940), and the granddaughter of business magnate

Jeremiah Milbank Jeremiah Milbank (April 18, 1818 – June 1, 1884) American businessman, was a successful dry goods commission merchant, speculator in Texas territorial bonds, manufacturer, and railroad investor. His most successful business efforts were the New Y ...

(1818–1884). She graduated with the first class of the

Spence School The Spence School is an American all-girls private school in New York City, founded in 1892 by Clara B. Spence. Spence has about 740 students, with grades K-4 representing the Lower School, 5-8 representing the Middle School, and 9-12 represe ...

in 1896, attended

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

(1896–1898) and graduated cum laude from the

Boston University School of Medicine The Boston University School of Medicine (formally the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine) is the medical school of Boston University, a private university, private research university in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in ...

in 1916.

Career

Campbell began her career in New York City at

Metropolitan Hospital The Metropolitan Hospital Center (MHC, also referred to as Metropolitan Hospital) is a hospital in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City. It has been affiliated with New York Medical College since it was founded in 1875, representing ...

and later worked at the Mulberry Street Health Center, operated by the

New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor The Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor (AICP) was a charitable organization in New York City, established in 1843 and incorporated in 1848 with the aim of helping the deserving poor and providing for their moral uplift.Coble, Alan ...

and partially funded by the

Milbank Memorial Fund The ''Milbank Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed healthcare journal covering health care policy. It was established in 1923 and is published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the Milbank Memorial Fund, an endowed national foundation funded by ...

, founded by Campbell's mother. Responding to entreaties from Reverend Alonzo Ray Petty to attend to the needs of the many local children suffering from rickets, Campbell opened the center at the

Judson Church The Judson Memorial Church is located on Washington Square South between Thompson Street and Sullivan Street, near Gould Plaza, opposite Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan ...

in January, 1921. Later out-growing its quarters, the Center moved first to 237 Thompson Street and later to 34 Spring Street. Campbell was married to John Stewart Tanner, M.D. in 1904 (divorced 1910) and secondly to Frederick Barber Campbell, See Wikipedia "Executive Order 6102" an Executive Order signed on April 5, 1933, by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt "forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates" by U.S. citizens. The order criminalized the American public's ability to own

gold as an investment Of all the precious metals, gold is the most popular as an investment. Investors generally buy gold as a way of diversifying risk, especially through the use of futures contracts and derivatives. The gold market is subject to speculation and ...

vehicle. Esq., in 1918 (divorced 1924). Dr. Campbell spent part of each summer after 1922 in

Deering, New Hampshire Deering is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,904 at the 2020 census. History First settled about 1765, the town was incorporated on 17 January 1774, by John Wentworth, governor of the Province of ...

, where she provided free medical care to the local and surrounding communities through the Deering Health Center, which she founded for that purpose. In 1931, she founded the Deering Foundation (renamed the Eleanor A. Campbell Charitable Fund in 2016) to provide tuition support for local residents. The foundation still operates, with assets of over $1 million in 2022. Campbell died December 29, 1959, and was predeceased by her daughter, born Elizabeth Milbank Tanner (1905–1930). Campbell was interred in the Milbank Mausoleum, Putnam Cemetery,

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Eleanor A. American primary care physicians 1878 births 1959 deaths Physicians from New York City Spence School alumni Bryn Mawr College alumni Boston University School of Medicine alumni