Campbell Family Memorial

The Campbell family's association with Washington and Lee extended across several generations. Professor John Lyle Campbell taught chemistry and geology from 1851 until 1886, serving alongside Robert E. Lee during his presidency of Washington College. His son and namesake served as University treasurer from 1877 until his death in 1913. A second son, Henry Donald Campbell, known affectionately as “Harry,” succeeded his father in the sciences, became dean in 1906, and served as acting president in 1912. Born and raised on the campus, Harry Campbell spent nearly his entire life at Washington and Lee. Even after retiring as dean in 1932, he continued teaching geology and researching the University's history until his death on April 10, 1934.

Campbell's death occasioned tributes from across the South. President Francis P. Gaines declared that he was “known and loved by more alumni than any other member of the faculty,” while historian Douglas Southall Freeman praised him as a champion of academic freedom. His funeral was held in Lee Chapel, with faculty serving as honorary pallbearers and students carrying his remains. A year later, Gaines reflected upon Campbell's legacy in an address to the Washington–Cincinnati Society: “But of all great men, whether George Washington or Harry Campbell, certain things never die, cannot die. The honest and unselfish work that they have done, at least in some indestructible central core, is permanent. It is heaven's high concession to us that even in the brevity and the triviality of our day, we may work for eternity.”

On June 7, 1935, during a meeting of the Washington and Lee Alumni Association in Lee Chapel, alumni dedicated a memorial tablet honoring the three Campbells and their combined 83 years of service to the University.

The tablet remained in the Chapel until its removal by University officials in 2021. In June 2026, it was returned to public display in the newly renovated Foundations and Frameworks gallery of the Chapel museum.

JOHN LYLE CAMPBELL
PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY
1851 — 1886
JOHN LYLE CAMPBELL
TREASURER OF THE UNIVERSITY
1877 — 1913
HENRY DONALD CAMPBELL
PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY • DEAN OF THE UNIVERSITY
1888 — 1934
ERECTED BY THE ALUMNI TO A FATHER AND TWO SONS WHO
DEDICATED THEIR LIVES TO WASHINGTON AND LEE

On June 4, 2021, the Washington and Lee University Board of Trustees announced plans to rename Lee Chapel and restore its auditorium to an “unadorned design,” physically separating it from the Lee family crypt and memorial sculpture. As part of these changes, university officials removed twenty historical plaques and memorials from the chapel sanctuary.

In a July 21, 2022, update, the university announced that “most of the other plaques will be moved to the galleries in the building or to the new institutional history museum, where they can be displayed with more historical context.”

When the renovated chapel galleries reopened in June 2026, six memorials removed from the chapel sanctuary in 2021, including this one, were returned to public display. These plaques were installed together in a display case in the Foundations and Frameworks exhibit of the chapel museum, without accompanying descriptions, interpretation, or historical context.

Eleven memorials removed from the chapel in 2021 have still not been returned to public display. The university has not responded to recent TGR inquiries concerning the whereabouts and future exhibition of removed plaques. However, in September 2026 correspondence with The W&L Spectator, Museum Director Matt Davis stated: “Our storage facility is not open to the public, nor do we make a list of our collections inventory available to the public.” He further explained that “the size and weight of some of these artifacts are not conducive to public viewing.” Regarding their future exhibition, Davis wrote: “It is possible that some or all of these artifacts will eventually be incorporated into temporary or permanent exhibits once the new museum is open, and we hope to have online databases and viewing rooms in the future.”

1. https://digitalarchive.wlu.edu/islandora/alumni-magazine-washington-and-lee-university-may-1934

2. https://digitalarchive.wlu.edu/islandora/alumni-magazine-washington-and-lee-university-may-1935

3. https://www.nytimes.com/1935/05/19/archives/wl-to-honor-three-tablet-will-be-erected-to-john-l-campbell-and.html

4. https://www.wlu.edu/about-w-l/leadership/board-of-trustees/messages-from-the-board-of-trustees/message-archive-2020-2023/the-future-of-washington-and-lee-university

5. https://columns.wlu.edu/update-on-university-chapel-renovations/

6. https://columns.wlu.edu/university-chapel-renovations-nearing-completion/