Bonnie J. Campbell papers

Collection

Identifier: IWA0368

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

The Bonnie J. Campbell papers date from 1992 to 1999 and measure 5 linear inches. The papers are arranged in four series: Biography, Newspaper clippings, Speeches, and Testimony. The bulk of the material are speeches Campbell gave from 1995 through 1997.

The newspaper clippings include information on Iowa politics and violence against women.

The speeches are predominantly those that Campbell has given since her appointment as Director of the Violence Against Women Office. In order to educate government, business, and private organizations about the reforms instituted by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the resources available due to the VAWA, and the collaboration necessary to implement the VAWA, Campbell has addressed audiences ranging from the Department of Defense, to Native American communities, professional medical organizations, law enforcement organizations, and international coalitions, among others. The speeches are arranged chronologically.

Dates

Creation: 1992-1999

Creator

Campbell, Bonnie J., 1948- (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright to portions of the collection has been transferred to the University of Iowa.

However, copyright status for some collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge the Iowa Women’s Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/

Biographical / Historical

Bonnie J. Pierce Campbell, an attorney and Democratic Party activist, was born in 1948 in South Plymouth, New York. She was raised on a farm in the Appalachian region of upstate New York, graduating from Norwich High School in 1965. She then began working in Washington, D.C., as part of a federal anti-poverty program for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and United States Senator Edmund Muskie (D-ME). Campbell became a staff member for Senator Harold Hughes (D-IA) in 1969. She moved to Iowa to oversee the offices of Senator John Culver (D-IA) from 1974 through 1980.

In 1982 Campbell earned a B.S., summa cum laude, from Drake University, and in 1985 she earned a J.D. from Drake University Law School. From 1985 until 1991 Campbell practiced law in Des Moines. She served as chair of Iowa's Democratic Party from 1987 until 1991. Campbell was the first woman to serve as Iowa's Attorney General, an elected office she held from 1990 until 1994. Campbell ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Iowa in 1994.

Campbell has long been an advocate of legal reform in cases of domestic violence and abuse. On March 21, 1995, President William J. Clinton appointed her Director of the Violence Against Women Office of the United States Department of Justice. Campbell is married to Edward Campbell.