A Remembrance of Dr. Mike Campbell

The best Texas historian of his generation, Randolph B. “Mike” Campbell, died on August 13, 2022. A member of the University of North Texas (UNT) history faculty for more than fifty years, he was a past winner of the Eminent Faculty Award for that institution, which recognized him as first among hundreds in many fields. But his students and associates already knew that well, having benefited from decades of great scholarship, effective mentorship, and warm friendship.

Dr. Randolph “Mike” Campbell, pictured here with Dr. William C. Yancey.

When I first met Mike, I had little idea of who he was or what he had done. I was a graduate student at the University of Texas in 1985, and I was given an opportunity to write entries for the New Handbook of Texas. This included spending a month at a branch archive of the Texas State Library, learning to write history under the tutelage of “Professor Campbell.”

By that time, Mike, raised on a farm in Nelson County, Virginia, had joined the faculty of UNT after earning his doctoral degree at the University of Virginia. As a young assistant and associate professor, he published award-winning articles and co-authored a book on the Dallas Cowboys. Promoted to professor, he staked a claim to defining how Texas history should be written with two books co-authored with Richard G. Lowe, Wealth and Power in Antebellum Texas and Planters and Plain Folk in Texas. His template, and impact, became clearer with the publication of A Southern Community in Crisis: Harrison County, Texas, 1850-1880.

All of this he shared with a small group of us while stressing that, while we should take our work seriously, we should never take ourselves too seriously. He led several of us in a run every day, drank a lot of beer with us, and explored the countryside with us - all part of our learning to appreciate Texas and its history.

I watched Mike reach the apex of his career from afar, having graduated and left Texas to find a job. He cemented his legacy by publishing An Empire for Slavery. In this award-winning study of slavery in Texas, he again used state and local records to reinterpret a vital subject in Texas history in an effective and balanced manner. Not content with having tackled one of the most controversial subjects in Texas history, Mike followed with Grassroots Reconstruction in Texas, 1865-1880. An acclaimed set of case studies, it challenged many long-cherished assertions about politics and society in Texas just after the Civil War.

Soon after its publication, Mike was elected to the Texas Institute of Letters and the Texas Philosophical Society. He also edited two document compilations to be used in Texas history courses, a brief biography of Sam Houston for classroom use, and the best Texas textbook, Gone to Texas, which has appeared in three editions from Oxford University Press.

I wanted to become Mike’s colleague at UNT, and in 2004, with his support, that happened. I was not surprised to discover that he remained a great teacher as well as scholar. His undergraduate courses always filled, and his graduate classes set the bar for others, including me. Graduate students made sure to include at least one seminar with Mike in their degree plans, and he directed a long list of doctoral dissertations.

He won several teaching awards, and he was appointed a Regents Professor for UNT in recognition of his superior impact with undergraduates. At the same time, he presided over an informal gathering of faculty and students several times a month to talk shop and drink beer, along with larger events that included family members, wood cutting, and a picnic. He understood that teaching takes place in many contexts, and that people who could laugh and play together were more likely to share ideas and unite as colleagues and fellow scholars. Perhaps I should have been intimidated, but I was too busy enjoying myself and increasing my own productivity as a teacher and scholar under Mike’s renewed mentorship.

And he continued to lead by example. He edited many publications, especially those of the Texas State Historical Association, for which he served as president and later became its first Chief Historian. He continued to edit and expand the New Handbook of Texas, and students and colleagues under his direction contributed many more entries. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly continued to diversify and expand its content under his strict editorship as well. As a member, and sometimes an officer, of a handful of other professional organizations, Campbell made sure that the pivotal role of Texas as a southern state was not forgotten.

Through it all, his advice remained the same: take your work seriously, but do not take yourself too seriously.

The legions of people who were lucky enough to consider Mike a friend can attest to his strong support and sage advice. Many of these were his students, but he also became attached to anyone who shared his interest in history. He believed that well-researched history, based upon evidence, could help anyone understand better who they were and how their world operated. He never stopped insisting on checking facts and sources before making assertions, and he graciously assisted students and colleagues alike in writing proper history. Such an approach led him to embrace the good in different perspectives, but also made him critical of those who disregarded evidence in favor of self-interested advocacy.

In spite of his failing health, after he retired from UNT he continued to work on projects, and he welcomed students and colleagues at his home to discuss projects, share food, and of course enjoy a few beers.

Texas and Texans will miss his scholarship, mentorship, and friendship as the following generations struggle to write their own history.