Homer Campbell earned undergraduate (1948) and graduate (1963) degrees in fisheries and wildlife from Oregon State University. After completing his BS degree, Campbell served as a regional biologist for the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission in LaGrande, Oregon. In 1957, he returned to Corvallis to work for Oregon State University as a coordinating biologist and assistant leader. Campbell's fisheries research continued with the Oregon Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (1960-1971) and with Oregon State University (1972-1978). He worked in Peru on fisheries projects for the United Nations in 1971-1972 and 1978-1980. At Oregon State University, Campbell integrated the programs of the volunteer Crossroads International organization with the Office of International Education. Campbell was active in environmental issues and helped to establish the Save our Stratosphere organization; he also served as a board member and president of the Audubon Society of Corvallis and volunteered with the Greenbelt Land Trust, Alan Berg Task Force, and Oregon High Desert Protection Committee.
Homer Jerome Campbell was born in Hillsboro, Oregon, in 1920. He died in 2002.
The Homer Campbell Papers consist of materials created and assembled by Campbell as an undergraduate student at Oregon State College and in the course of his career as a fisheries biologist, volunteer with the Audubon Society, and environmental activist. The collection includes brochures, correspondence, course materials, curriculum vitae, flyers, legislative bills, maps, meeting minutes, newsletters, newspaper clippings, notes, photographs, and reports.
The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence/subject files for topics, locations, publications, organizations, and events. These files primarily reflect Campbell's advocacy for environmental issues and include letters to elected officials, editorials submitted to newspapers, notes from conferences, and minutes from organizations such as Save Our Stratosphere. Topics addressed include protection of landscapes in Oregon, depletion of the ozone layer, livestock grazing on public lands, preservation of old growth forests, stream restoration, and protection of salmon runs.
Materials from Campbell's student years at Oregon State include notes, class outlines, course readings, and student papers. Courses on the management of game birds, ichthylogy, range and pasture botany, civilian pilot training, and aquatic entomology are represented.
The Audubon Society materials include newsletters and membership lists and document Campbell's involvement in various preservation campaigns, including the addition of the Snag Boat Bend area to the Finley Wildlife Refuge. The photographs consist of 22 prints and 20 negatives and depict a field trip to Hart Mountain and the Corvallis Audubon Society booth at the Benton County Fair.
Collection is open for research.
Homer Campbell Papers (MSS Campbell), Oregon State University Special Collections & Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
The Homer Campbell Papers were donated by Campbell's daughter, Janet Cornelius, to the Special Collections & Archives Research Center in 2014.
This collection is not fully processed; this guide is preliminary.
Preliminary container
list available
The Special Collections & Archives Research Center's collections include many materials documenting the work of fisheries biologists such as the papers of Neil Armantrout and