James T. Campbell
James T. Campbell is an accomplished historian and professor known for his extensive research on African American history and race relations. Born in Illinois, he was inspired by the civil rights movements of the 1960s, which motivated him to pursue a deeper understanding of these topics. He earned a degree from Yale University in 1980 and completed his PhD at Stanford University in 1989, focusing on the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and its missions in South Africa.
Campbell has held teaching positions at several prestigious institutions, including Northwestern University, Brown University, and Stanford University, where he has contributed to the academic discourse on race and history. His notable works include *Songs of Zion*, which examines the evolution of African American independent churches, and *Middle Passages*, detailing the journeys of prominent African Americans to Africa. His efforts have received multiple accolades, establishing him as a prominent voice in the field.
Beyond his books, Campbell has engaged in various academic projects, co-editing works that explore the intersections of race, nation, and higher education. He has also served as a consultant for historical documentaries and educational initiatives, significantly impacting the understanding of African American experiences and their historical context. Campbell's work continues to resonate, highlighting the complexities of race relations in both historical and contemporary settings.
Subject Terms
James T. Campbell
Historian
- Born: March 28, 1958
- Birthplace: Illinois
Contribution: James T. Campbell is an award-winning historian and author, best known for his research on African American history, the slave trade, and race relations in American history.
Background
James T. Campbell was born in Illinois, and was motivated to study African American race relations by the American civil rights movements of the1960s.
He graduated from Yale University in 1980. He went on to get his PhD from Stanford University in 1989.
The subject of his dissertation was the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, which established missions in South Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During his research, Campbell spent some time in South Africa at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
Career
Campbell worked as a history professor at Northwestern University (1989–96), at Brown University (1999–2008), and Stanford University beginning in 2008. From 2003 to 2006, while at Brown, Campbell served as the chair of the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. He received the Brown University Undergraduate Council of Students Award for Excellence in Teaching in the 2006–7
His first book, Songs of Zion: The African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States and South Africa (1995), expanded on his dissertation. In the book, Campbell looks at the origins and evolution of African American independent churches in the United States. Campbell argues that the act of converting to Christianity forced African Americans to reconsider their relationship to their continent of origin. Songs of Zion received the Carl Sandburg Literary Award for nonfiction and the Organization of American Historians' Frederick Jackson Turner Award.
After the publication of his first book, Campbell contributed several articles to various academic journals. Many of these articles were concerned with South African history and race relations in the United States. He also reviewed history books for different journals, including the Journal of American History and the Journal of Southern African Studies.
Campbell's second book, Middle Passages: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787–2005, was published in 2006. In the book, Campbell recounts more than two centuries of notable African Americans traveling to Africa. Campbell addresses the travels of such historical figures as Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, and Langston Hughes.
The book received several accolades and established Campbell as a leading expert on African American history. It won the Mark Lynton History Prize from the Columbia School of Journalism and Nieman Foundation at Harvard University. It also won the Lois P. Rudnick Prize from the New England American Studies Association and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history.
In 2007, Campbell coedited the book Race, Nation, and Empire in American History with historians Matthew Pratt Guterl and Robert G. Lee. The book features fifteen essays that examine the role of empire in American race relations and foreign policy from the founding of the United States into the twenty-first century.
During his career, Campbell served as a consultant for several organizations and publications, such as the History Channel, the Civil Rights Living Memorial Project, and the US Department of Education Teaching American History Grants. He also acted as consultant for many history books and textbooks. He also contributed to the documentary film series This Far by Faith: African-American Spiritual Journeys, which premiered in June 2003 on PBS. Along with scholars from Brown University and Tougaloo College, Campbell cofounded the website Freedom Now, which contained an archive of documents exploring the Mississippi Freedom Movement.
Campbell had two books published in 2019. Mississippi Witness: The Photographs of Florence Mars, written with Elaine Owens, focuses on the work of a white Southerner who documented the racial complexities of life in the South in the mid-twentieth century. Many of the photographs in the book were previously unpublished, and the volume earned praise for giving insight not only into the life of Florence Mars but also into an important era of race relations in the United States. Campbell also edited, with Leslie M. Harris and Alfred L. Brophy, Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies. It was hailed as the first-ever formal collection of scholarly essays all focusing on the connections between slavery and North American colleges, both in historical development and in influences lasting to the present.
Impact
Campbell's research has helped bring to light a variety of aspects of the African American experience in the United States, as well as the slave trade and the American civil rights movement. His research and published works have spanned the history of African Americans, earning critical acclaim for their insightful findings and commentary.
Personal Life
Campbell is married with children. He and his wife became resident fellows at Stanford University.
Principal Works
Books
Songs of Zion: The African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States and South Africa, 1995
Middle Passages: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787–2005, 2006
Race, Nation, and Empire in American History, 2007 (editor, with Matthew Pratt Guterl and Robert G. Lee)
Slavery and the University: History and Legacies, 2019 (editor, with Leslie M. Harris and Alfred L. Brophy)
Mississippi Witness: The Photographs of Florence Mars, 2019 (with Elaine Owens)
Essays
"Like Locusts in Pharaoh's Palace: The Origins and Politics of African Methodism in the Orange Free State," 1994
"Redeeming the Race: Martin Delany and the Niger Valley Exploring Party, 1859–60," 2001
"Habits of Mind," 2002
"Philanthropy, Race, and the Renaturalization of Difference," 2002
"The Public History of Slavery and Justice: An Introduction," 2007
"The Americanization of South Africa," 2010
Bibliography
Bellcuk, Pam. "Brown U. to Examine Debt to Slave Trade." New York Times. New York Times, 13 Mar. 2004. Web. 1 July 2013.
Campbell, James T., Matthew Pratt Guterl, and Robert G. Lee, eds. Race, Nation, and Empire in American History. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 2007 Print.
"James T. Campbell." Stanford Department of History, Stanford University, history.stanford.edu/people/james-t-campbell. Accessed 29 Jan. 2020.
Stathatos, Suzanne. "Campbell on Race." Stanford Daily. Stanford Daily, 2 Nov. 2010. Web. 1 July 2013.