Edmund D. Campbell
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Edmund D. Campbell | |
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President, Arlington County Board of Supervisors | |
Personal details | |
Born | March 12, 1899 Washington and Lee Law School |
Occupation | Attorney and municipal politician |
Edmund Douglas Campbell (March 12, 1899 – December 7, 1995) was a
Early and family life
Campbell was born on March 12, 1899, in Lexington, Virginia, to Henry Donald Campbell and his wife, the former Martha Miller. Both his grandfather and father had taught at Washington and Lee University. His father often told young Edmund of his own childhood living next to Robert E. Lee, who served as the college's president after the American Civil War, and how he rode behind the former General on his horse, Traveller. Family heirlooms included letters from Confederate Generals Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
Edmund Campbell was admitted to Washington and Lee when he was 15 years old and would graduate as valedictorian of his class in 1918. He served six weeks in the
Campbell married Estelle Butterworth in 1926, and moved across the Potomac River to Arlington. Before her death in 1934, they had a son (who became Rev. Edmund D. Campbell Jr.) and a daughter (Virginia Campbell Holt). In June 1936, Campbell married Elizabeth Pfohl, North Carolina-born president of a women's college in Staunton, Virginia. They had twin sons, Donald and Benjamin, in 1941.
The Campbells sent their children to the local public schools. Elizabeth Campbell remained active in education and would later serve on Arlington's school board and help found
Career
After admission to the Virginia bar, Campbell moved to Washington, D.C., and later rented a home in Arlington, Virginia, which was a growing streetcar suburb of the national capital. His legal practice, with Douglas, Obear & Campbell and later Jackson & Campbell, included northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. Campbell was a member of the American Bar Association, the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, and in 1962 served as President of the District of Columbia Bar. He also lectured in law for National University in Washington.
Arlington County
In the 1930s, Campbell served on the Arlington County Public Utilities Commission, which succeeded in reducing gas and electric rates.[3]
From 1940 until 1947, Campbell served on the Arlington County
In 1952 Campbell narrowly lost his one run for higher office, in the newly created 10th congressional district. The Byrd organization refused to support him because of his desegregation advocacy; Campbell lost by 332 votes to Republican Joel T. Broyhill, a segregationist and World War II veteran. Broyhill would go on to represent the district for almost a quarter-century.
Supreme Court advocate
As an attorney, Campbell successfully argued a case which overturned a Virginia law prohibiting racially integrated seating in public places.[1] During Massive Resistance, Campbell represented Norfolk parents and schoolchildren in federal court, which led to the three-judge decision in James v. Almond on January 19, 1959, which with a Virginia Supreme Court decision on the same day (both eventually accepted by Governor J. Lindsay Almond), led Norfolk and Arlington to desegregate their schools (peacefully) in early February, 1959. This led to successful desegregation of local schools across Virginia.
Campbell also represented northern Virginia legislators who complained that reapportionment after the 1960 census continued to under-represent the growing northern Virginia suburbs. The United States Supreme Court in Davis v. Mann agreed, leading to the famous "one man, one vote" rationale.
Death and legacy
Campbell died at home of cardiopulmonary arrest in December, 1995, survived by his wife, three sons (two of whom had become Episcopal priests), daughter and several grandchildren and great grandchildren. After a funeral service at St. Peter's Church in north Arlington, he was interred in the family plot in
In 1999, Arlington named a street in the
References
- ^ a b c Bart Barnes (December 9, 1995). "Edmund D. Campbell Dies: Fought Segregation in Virginia". The Washington Post. p. B6.
- ^ a b Eric Pace (December 10, 1995). "E.D. Campbell, 96, Champion Of Integration". The New York Times. p. 60.
- ^ a b Biography distributed by Democratic Campaign Committee of Arlington County, Virginia for November 7, 1939 general election
- ^ Arlington County press release of January 14, 1999 and program in local library clippings file
- ^ "'It's Time to Talk About the Names of Our Schools,' Says Arlington County School Board".