I was born in Earle, Arkansas in 1922, the only child of William
and Rosa Mason. I started grammar school in Earle, Arkansas. My
family moved to Marion, Arkansas, where I finished grammar school.
My father was a School Teacher and also the Superintendent of
Black Schools in the area. My mother was a housewife who also
served as midwife to families both Black and White and earned
a Certificate in Midwifery.
Since there was no high school in Marion, Arkansas, my parents
sent me to the B. T. Washington High School in Memphis, Tennessee,
some 17 miles away. Meanwhile, my father applied for and received
help from the Rosenwold Foundation to build a high school in Marion
and also a trade school for boys in Crawfordsville, Arkansas.
I graduated from the new high school in Marion, Arkansas. With
a High School Diploma in hand, one could be a Teacher in Arkansas,
so during the semester of 1938, I assisted Mrs. Shivers, the Principal
of the three-room school in Marion. In the Fall of 1938, I went
to the Arkansas A&M College in Pine Bluff, Arkansas for 3
years. I got married to Mr. Isadore Banks. To this union was born
4 children. Mr. Banks was killed in a car accident. I went back
to school and graduated in 1942. I started teaching Home Economics
at Wonder City High School in West Memphis, Arkansas and remained
there for 9 years.
I later married Mr. Campbell and moved to Chicago. I taught for
4 years (1953-1957) at various schools in the Chicago area. Then
I moved to Champaign, Illinois in the Fall of 1958. Not being
able to get a job in my field of education, I worked as a domestic.
I applied for and got a job at the University of Illinois and
worked in the College of Agricultural Economics under Dr. McCullum;
I took job-related courses and when Dr. McCullum passed away,
I left the Department to work on a Master's Degree. I started
working with the Community Outreach Worker Program through the
University of Illinois and the City of Champaign, helping to get
the Frances Nelson Health Center in place. My responsibilities
included recruiting Doctors, Dentists and Laboratory Technicians
and Nurses to staff the Center and serve as Coordinator. I worked
with the State Director of D.C.F.S. and in 1972, I took and passed
the Civil Service Test and was hired as a licensed Representative
of D.C.F.S. I retired from that position in 1988.
Since retirement, I have been active with the Baha'i Faith; the
Champaign County Section of the National Council of Negro Women
and was President for two years; the Senior Citizen's Program
at Douglass Center, and maintain membership in the Champaign County
Urban League. My hobbies are painting, flower and vegetable gardening
and I love fishing.
Willie
Campbell
)
denotes original charter members of the Champaign County Section
of the National Council of Negro Women.