Road Scholars Speakers Bureau

Karl E. Campbell, Ph.D.                  

Associate Professor of History at Appalachian State University, author, lecturer

Banner Elk, NC

W: (828) 262-6009

H: (828) 963-5190

campbllke@appstate.edu

Travel regions: 2–5

About Karl Campbell:

Karl Campbell, Associate Professor of History at Appalachian State University, received his M.A. and Ph.D. in History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Dr. Campbell has presented numerous lectures and papers on the subject of the late Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina, as well as on the Civil Rights Movement in NC. His book, Senator Sam Ervin: The Last of the Founding Fathers was published in 2007.

The North Carolina Way: Civil Rights and Wrongs in the Twentieth Century

For much of the twentieth century, North Carolina enjoyed a reputation as the most progressive state in the American South. In 1949, the preeminent political scientist V. O. Key labeled the state a progressive plutocracy and praised its leaders for following a relatively moderate path in support of public education, economic development, and harmonious race relations. Ironically, by the end of the century, many scholars referred to NC’s reputation as a “progressive myth,” especially in the area of civil rights. Several critics suggested that it was the least changed of the old Confederate states. How should we view the history of civil rights in NC? Dr. Karl Campbell provides an overview of Tar Heel race relations from the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 to the 2001 court ruling ending busing in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools.

Program requirement: lectern

Senator Sam Ervin: Just a Country Lawyer

Sam Ervin is most often remembered as the affable, Bible-quoting, old country lawyer who chaired the Senate Watergate hearings in 1973. The senator’s moonshiner stories from “down home” in NC, his quaint verses ranging from Shakespeare to “Aesop’s Fables,” and his earnest lectures in defense of constitutional government and individual rights during the Watergate scandal endeared him to many Americans and contributed to the downfall of President Richard Nixon. For most of his twenty years in the Senate, however, Ervin applied these same rhetorical devices to a quite different purpose. Between 1954 and 1974, NC’s famous country lawyer served as Jim Crow’s most talented legal defender. His reputation as the Senate’s leading constitutional authority rested primarily on his performance as the South’s constitutional expert during the congressional debates on civil rights. Dr. Karl Campbell addresses the central paradox of the senator’s career: How could such a champion of constitutional rights for all Americans be such a consistent opponent of civil rights for African Americans? Campbell also discusses the senator’s contributions to contemporary political debates such as school prayer, national security, and civil liberties.