Hannah Campbell Papers
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Abstract
Correspondence and papers of Hannah Campbell, a writer and magazine editor who lived in New York City from 1958 to 1982.
Biographical / Historical
Hannah Campbell was born January 30, 1926 in High Point, North Carolina. She worked as a professional stenographer and legal secretary from the late 1940's through 1957. In 1958, she moved to New York City to pursue a career as a writer. She worked for various publications, including Cosmopolitan (1958-1961), Field & Stream (1963-ca. 1967), and Reader's Digest (ca. 1967-1982). While at Cosmopolitan, she began a regularly appearing column on the history of brand names, and in 1964 wrote a book on the same subject entitled Why Did They Name It...?. She also wrote free-lance articles and stories.
Never married, Campbell returned to North Carolina in 1982. She died in 2004.
Arrangement
This collection has been organized into the following four series:
Series I: Personal Correspondence
Series II: Professional Correspondence and Magazine Articles
Series III: Documents relating to Campbell's book, Why Did They Name It?
Series IV: Calendars
Scope and Contents
This collection consists primarily of Hannah Campbell's personal correspondence with family members, spanning the years from the late 1950's to the early 1980's. Campbell's frequent letters include vivid descriptions of her personal and professional life and paint an interesting portrait of her daily life as a single professional woman in New York City during this time period. Of equal interest is Campbell's southern perspective on her experiences.
A smaller amount of business correspondence is also included, along with copies of Campbell's published articles and a copy of her book. Items of special interest include an article about an African-American-owned grocery store chain in Greesborok, NC. and correspondence regarding a proposed book on the subject of beauty for African-American women.
Conditions Governing Access
Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. (Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days.)
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to quote from this collection in a publication must be requested and granted in writing. Send permission requests, citing the name of the collection from which you wish to quote, to
Manuscripts Curator The New-York Historical Society 170 Central Park West New York, NY 10024
The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Citations of this collection: The Hannah Campbell Papers, The New-York Historical Society
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Gilbert Edwin Southern, Jr., May, 23, 2013