Access is granted in accordance with the
Protocols for the University Archives and Records Center.
PROVENANCE
Scrapbook and diplomas gift of William M. Campbell (son of William
James Campbell), 1971; lecture notes gift of Willman Spawn, 1985,
1991.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
William James Campbell was born on March 25, 1850 the son of John
and Margaret Hughes Campbell. Campbell was educated in the Philadelphia
public school system, first at the Locust Street Grammar School and
then at Central High School. His ambition was to become a doctor,
and he studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania under Joseph
Leidy. Campbell took his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in 1871 from the University
after serving a residency at Pennsylvania Hospital. His career was
diverted by the failing health of his father who owned and operated
a flourishing book business. William James put aside his own medical
career to carrying on his father's enterprise. He continued the family
business with such success that Campbell was able to collect American
first editions, Jeffersonia, and lithographic prints by Albert Newsam.
He married Elizabeth Martin in 1882; they had four children, Elizabeth
M., Frances M., John J., and William M. Campbell.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
Scrapbook, 1863-1872, filled with ephemera relating to his academic
career at Central High School and at the University of Pennsylvania.
Schedules, student lists, commencement notices and programs, lecture
notices, matriculation tickets, letters of recommendation, ribbons,
and clippings cover the pages. Lecture notes, 1869-1872, for courses
and lectures attended as Campbell was graduating from Central through
his course work at the University, represent the bulk of the collection.
The lecture notes address a variety of medical subjects including hygiene,
obstetrics, surgery, practical medicine, physiology, clinics, anatomy,
botany, geology, and chemistry. Professors include Harrison Allen, D.
Hays Agnew, Robert Bolling, Joseph Carson, Henry Hartshorne, F.V. Hayden,
H. Lenox Hodge, James E. Hutchinson, Joseph Leidy, R.A.F. Penrose, George
Pepper, William Pepper, J.G. Reese, Edward Rhoads, R.E. Rogers, Francis
G. Smith, Henry H. Smith, Alfred Stille, James Tyson, and Horatio Wood.