Guide to the Bebe Moore Campbell Papers, 1956-2008 SC.2017.02

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biography

Scope and Content Notes

Arrangement

Administrative Information

Controlled Access Headings

Collection Inventory

Series I. Correspondence,1992-2006

Series II. Manuscripts and Screenplays,1977-2005

Series III. Articles on Bebe Moore Campbell,1991-2006

Series IV. Research and Writings by Others,1956-2006

Series V. Book Reviews and Rankings,1993-2005

Series VI. Organizations,1978-2006

Series VII. Promotional Activities,1989-2005

Series VIII. Tour Schedules,1993-2005

Series IX. Contracts,1987-2005

Series X. Financial Information,1994-2006

Series XI. Personal Papers,1970-2008

Summary Information

Repository

ULS Archives & Special Collections

Title

Bebe Moore Campbell Papers

Creator

Campbell, Bebe Moore, 1950-2006

Collection Number

SC.2017.02

Date

1956-2008

Extent

12.18 linear feet (29 document cases)

Abstract

Bebe Moore Campbell was an award-winning author, journalist, teacher and playwright whose professional works reflected the African-American experience in the United States. A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Campbell graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971. Several of her fictional works appeared in New York Times bestsellers lists. The papers document Bebe Moore Campbell’s professional life with specific focus on the creative and administrative process of publishing in the late 20th and early 21st century. Included are many drafts and revisions of her writings as well as contracts, correspondence, reviews, promotional activities and rankings of her works.

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Biography

Bebe Moore Campbell was born Elizabeth Bebe Moore on February 18, 1950 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. An only child, her parents Doris Edwina Carter Moore and George Linwood Peter Moore divorced three years after her birth. During the school year her mother, aunt, and maternal grandmother raised Campbell in Philadelphia, while she spent her summers with her father in North Carolina. After graduating from Philadelphia’s Girls High School, she went on to attend the University of Pittsburgh, where she graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in elementary education in 1971.

During her time at Pitt, Campbell was involved with the early days of the Black Action Society, an organization that she maintained interest in and contact with throughout her life. This is also when she married her first husband, her high school boyfriend Tiko Campbell, who she divorced in 1979. The couple had one child together, Maria Campbell, who later went on to become an actor.

Campbell moved to Atlanta and then Washington D.C. to teach elementary school for several years, before she began to pursue a career in writing in the mid-to-late 1970s. Starting as a freelance journalist, Campbell wrote articles for many well-known publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Essence, Los Angeles Times, and Ebony. Campbell also appeared on National Public Radio (NPR) as a commentator on Morning Edition. In 1984, she married Ellis Gordon Jr., who she would stay with until her death in 2006. The couple raised their two children (Maria and Ellis Gordon III, who was born from Gordon’s previous marriage) in Los Angeles, California.

In 1986, Campbell published her first book; a non-fiction work entitled Successful Women, Angry Men: Backlash in the Two-Career Marriage. Her next work was a semi-autobiographical book about her childhood,  Sweet Summer: Growing Up with and without My Dad, which was published in 1989.

Campbell’s work touched on subjects and themes important to her, such as racial justice, childhood obesity, and mental illness. Her first novel, Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine (1992), discussed a fictionalized version of the death of Emmett Till, a black teenager who was murdered for speaking in a suggestive manner to a white woman in Mississippi. Another book,  Brothers and Sisters (1994) is set in Los Angeles in the aftermath of the Rodney King verdict. Other well-known works from Campbell include  Singing in the Comeback Choir (1998), about a successful businesswoman who returns to her childhood Philadelphia neighborhood at the request of her aging grandmother’s caretaker,   What You Owe Me (2001), about the friendship and betrayal between a black hotel maid and Jewish Holocaust survivor who start a business together, and  72 Hour Hold, about a mother trying to come to grips with her daughter’s mental illness.

In addition to her writing for adults, Campbell also published multiple children’s books. These include Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry (2003), which tackles a child’s view of her mother’s mental illness,  Stompin’ at the Savoy (2006), a story about a girl who gets magically transported to the famous jazz club, and  I Get So Hungry (2008), which describes a child’s struggle with obesity. Campbell also authored two radio plays, “Sugar on the Floor” and “Old Lady Shoes”.

Campbell died from brain cancer on November 27, 2006, at age 56. She is buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. For her writings, she received three New York Times best sellers, Los Angeles Times "Best Book of 2001", New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and the NAACP Image Award for Literature.

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Scope and Content Notes

The Bebe Moore Campbell papers contain correspondence, drafts and revisions of various novels and articles, contracts, book reviews, publicity, promotional materials, research files and tour schedules that document the creative and administrative process of Bebe Moore Campbell, a late 20th and early 21st century author who was successful in publishing and promoting her works to a wide audience.

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Arrangement

Series I: Correspondence

Series II: Manuscripts and Screenplays

Series III: Articles about Bebe Moore Campbell

Series IV: Writings by others

Series V: Book Reviews and Rankings

Series VI: Organizations

Series VII: Promotional Activities

Series VIII: Tour Schedules

Series IX: Contracts

Series X: Financials

Series XI: Personal Papers

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

ULS Archives & Special Collections, October 2018

Access Restrictions

No Restriction.

Copyright

The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.

Acquisition Information

This collection was donated to the University of Pittsburgh by Ellis Gordon in December, 2017.

Processing Information

Processing of this collection was completed by Alexandra Hebda in July, 2018.

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Controlled Access Headings

Genre(s)

• Book reviews
• Correspondence
• Financial records
• Manuscripts (Document genre)
• Manuscripts for publication

Personal Name(s)

• Campbell, Bebe Moore, 1950-2006
• Campbell, Maia Chinassa, 1976-
• Gordon, Ellis, Jr., 1948-

Subject(s)

• African American authors
• African American authors -- Fiction
• African American dramatists
• African American journalists
• African American journalists -- Periodicals
• African American journalists -- Social conditions
• African Americans authors -- Juvenile fiction
• African-American literature and culture
• Mental health literature
• Women authors, American -- 20th century
• Women authors, American -- 21th century

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Collection Inventory