Margaret Warthin Campbell

Biographical Sketch, by Jane Radcliffe, Archives Volunteer

Margaret Warthin Campbell came from a botanically-minded family in Ann Arbor, Michigan, received her A.B. and her M.S. degrees in geography from the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago respectively. She was subsequently employed by the American Geographical Society in New York. She married James Campbell and moved to the Bay Area, and thereafter did volunteer work in child welfare until she joined the Academy Library.

The "Meet the Staff" column of the Academy's newsletter for July of 1975 features Margaret Warthin Campbell. As a Library Associate, she had at that time served the library twice a week for 14 years to bring order to the unique records pertaining to CAS history.

She sorted through CAS correspondence, publications, annual reports, history, and pictures of the various buildings. She also sorted materials related to staff and members since the Academy's inception: pictures, manuscripts, diaries, and publications. Her knowledge that the job would never be finished did not dampen the joy she brought to the work. The Academy Archives exists, in part, due to the work of Margaret Warthin Campbell.