John Charles Campbell (14 September 1867 – 1919) was an American

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and reformer noted for his survey of social conditions in the southern

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n region of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

during the early 1900s. He served a term as president of

Piedmont College Piedmont University is a private university in Demorest and Athens, Georgia. Founded in 1897, Piedmont's Demorest campus includes 300 acres in a traditional residential-college setting located in the foothills of the northeast Georgia Blue Ri ...

from 1904 to 1907.

Background

Campbell was born to Gavin and Anna Barbara Campbell, and grew up in

Stevens Point, Wisconsin Stevens Point is a city in Portage County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 25,666 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It forms the core of the Stevens Point micropolitan statistical area, which had a p ...

. He graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

in 1892 and received a bachelor of divinity degree from

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambrid ...

in 1895. Campbell studied

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

before traveling to the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

. There he outfitted a wagon to serve as a mobile house as he interviewed working people, particularly

farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

. Campbell married first wife Grace H. Buckingham, who died in 1905. In 1907 he married folklorist Olive Dame of West Medford, Massachusetts. After Campbell's death, his wife Olive established the John C. Campbell Folk School in 1925 in

Brasstown, North Carolina Brasstown is an Unincorporated community (United States), unincorporated community located mostly within Clay County, North Carolina, Clay County, North Carolina, United States, though roughly one third of Brasstown is within the adjacent Cheroke ...

References

External links

Inventory of the John Charles Campbell and Olive D. Campbell Papers, 1865-1965
in the Southern Historical Collection,

UNC-Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolling students in 1795 ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, John C. 1867 births 1919 deaths American educators American folklorists Williams College alumni People from La Porte, Indiana Piedmont University