John Charles Campbell (14 September 1867 – 1919) was an American educator and reformer noted for his survey of social conditions in the southern Appalachian region of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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 Rid ...

from 1904 to 1907.

Background

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

Stevens Point, Wisconsin Stevens Point is the county seat of Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. The city was incorporated in 1858. Its 2020 population of 25,666 makes it the largest city in the county. Stevens Point forms the core of the United States Census Bur ...

. He graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

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 Cambridge. ...

in 1895. Campbell studied

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

New England New England is a region comprising 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 Can ...

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, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. There he outfitted a wagon to serve as a mobile house as he interviewed working people, particularly farmers. 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 located mostly within Clay County, North Carolina, United States, though roughly one third of Brasstown is within the adjacent Cherokee County. Etymology The name, "Brasstown," was given to several historic ...

References

External links

Inventory of the John Charles Campbell and Olive D. Campbell Papers, 1865-1965
in the Southern Historical Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill. {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, John C. 1867 births 1919 deaths American educators American folklorists Williams College alumni People from La Porte, Indiana Piedmont University