Interview with Edgar Campbell, July 11, 1983

Interview Summary

Edgar Campbell (1902-1987) was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia. In 1917, he and his parents joined the Great Migration north, settling first in Baltimore, and soon afterwards in Philadelphia. There, Campbell became active in city politics by passing examinations for public service in 1922 and working his way into the lower echelons of the Republican Party. He came of age in a time where political patronage was essential in the machinery of Philadelphia politics. It was this patronage that drove him into the arms of the Democratic Party in 1926, an act that anticipated their eventual rise to power in Philadelphia in 1936. He continued to serve in Philadelphia?s political circles, where he won election to the City Council in 1967 and in 1975 as Clerk of Quarter Sessions Court. At the age of 80, Campbell in 1982, became the first African-American Chairman of Philadelphia's Democratic City Committee.

Interview Keyword

Elections--Corrupt practices African Americans--Societies, etc. Real estate Savannah, Georgia West Philadelphia African Americans--Housing African Americans--Employment African American business enterprises

Interview LC Subject

African American politicians African American leadership African Americans--Politics and government Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ) Democratic Party (U.S.) Political parties Race discrimination Migration, Internal African Americans--Southern States African Americans--Social conditions Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social conditions Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social life and customs African Americans--Segregation United States--Race relations

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.