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Laurence Campbell Papers, 1870-1975, Date acquired: 00/00/1976

 

Summary

Creator:
Campbell, Laurence Randolph, 1903-1987
Abstract:
Materials documenting Laurence Campbell's early professional and teaching career in journalism before becoming Dean of Florida State University (FSU)'s School of Journalism; administrative and professional materials covering the operations of and activities sponsored by the School of Journalism during his years as FSU Dean; professional materials related to his later work as head of FSU's Department of Educational Foundations and Professor of English Education, and high school journalism periodicals and monographs germane to his career.
Extent:
20.70 Linear Feet
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Name of Item], [Date of Item], Laurence Campbell Papers, Heritage & University Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. https://purl.lib.fsu.edu/fa/MSS-1976-014

Background

Scope and content:

The Laurence Campbell Papers document the professional career of a working news reporter, professor of journalism, educator, writer, and lecturer in the field of journalism education. The materials include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, budgets, newsletters, photographs, speeches and articles, and other publications created by Campbell or his colleagues prior to, during, and after his tenure as Dean of the Florida State University (FSU) School of Journalism. There are a variety of reference materials Campbell collected covering related topics such as advertising, Berry College, careers in journalism, high school journalism, journalism instruction, newspapers, newsprint and paper technology, newsprint, student literary publications, stylebooks and handbooks (many published by state scholastic press associations and schools of journalism), and television journalism. There is an extensive collection of journals, such as Communication: Journalism Education Today, Photolith; ESSPA: Journal of the Empire State School Press Association; the Florida Scholastic Press Association News (Campbell was its Executive Editor); Quill and Scroll, Scholastic Editor, School Activities (Campbell served as its Assistant Editor for Colleges), and School Press Review. In addition to serving as advisory editor of several of these journals, he published articles in many of them.


Biographical / historical:

Laurence Campbell was a very active educator and contributor to the field of scholastic journalism. Born March 1, 1903 in Batavia, Iowa, he was educated in the public schools of Washington (state) and Colorado. He received his B.A. in 1926 from San Jose State Teacher's College (now State University), his M.S. from Northwestern University in 1931, and his Ph.D. from that institution in 1939. He also attended the University of Washington, Seattle, and the University of Colorado.


His administration work in higher education included acting Dean of the School of Journalism, University of Oregon (1947-1950), Dean of the Florida State University School of Journalism (1950-1959), and head of the Department of Educational Foundations, Florida State University (1961-1963). According to the Florida Board of Control, the FSU School of Journalism was abolished in 1959 as an economy measure.

Campbell had a very active professional career. He was News Editor of the San Francisco Edition of the Wall Street Journal (1943-1944), wrote reviews for the San Francisco Chronicle, conducted a summer research project for the Denver Post in 1950, and served as Executive Secretary of the Oregon Scholastic Press. He received the Journalism Education Association's Carl Towley Award, Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Key, National Scholastic Press Association Pioneer Award, and other honors for service to student journalism. He wrote or co-wrote seven monographs (Exploring Journalism; Effective News Reporting; News Beat; Newsmen At Work; A Principal's Guide to High School Journalism, 1944; A Guide to Radio-TV Writing, 1950; How to Report and Write the News, 1961), and published many articles, reviews, editorials, and booklets. Campbell was an advisory editor of the journals Quill and Scroll and Scholastic Editor, lectured on journalism at the University of Cairo, the American University in Cairo, the University of Alexandria, and other colleges in Egypt and Jordan in the 1950s, and was a studies executive and educational consultant at Berry College and Berry Academy (Mt. Berry, GA). From 1956-1957, Campbell served on Governor LeRoy Collins' Committee on Educational Television.


After the School of Journalism was disbanded in 1959, Campbell continued his teaching activities in the FSU College of Education. He taught undergraduate courses in the Department of Educational Foundations, serving as its department head from 1959-1963. As a faculty member in the Department of English Education (1963-1973), he taught courses for students seeking certification in journalism. This program included graduate courses in Mass Media and the History of American Mass Media. At the same time, Campbell continued to be a strong advocate for freedom of the press. For example, he championed the right of the Florida Flambeau, the FSU student newspaper, to disagree with university officials. He also opposed the administration's decision to terminate the traditional use of student fees to serve as circulation revenue for the newspaper.


Acquisition information:
Given by Dr. Campbell
Processing information:

Processed by Burt Altman and Florida State University (FSU) College of Information interns in Spring 2009.

Arrangement:

The Campbell Papers are divided into four main series and several sub-series. The Early Years series is sub-divided into professional and teaching sub-series. The largest group, Florida State University School of Journalism, documents Campbell's tenure as Dean, and is sub-divided into administrative, Florida Scholastic Press Association Records, professional, and teaching subseries. The Later Years series is sub-divided into professional and teaching files, and covers his years as department head of the Department of Educational Foundations and as instructor in English Education. These major subseries are arranged alphabetically.


Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open to all researchers.

This collection is in an offsite storage location. Please contact lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu with requests for access or for more information.

Terms of access:

To request permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from the archives, please contact Heritage & University Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. Researchers must obtain separate permission from the copyright holders of material held within University Archives collections for which the institution does not hold copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Name of Item], [Date of Item], Laurence Campbell Papers, Heritage & University Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. https://purl.lib.fsu.edu/fa/MSS-1976-014