spite of his early unfavorable environment, and described the "Bloody First" ward of Pomeroy as "tough". Campbell completed his primary education from first to eighth grade at Kerr's Run Colored School, and his secondary education at Pomeroy Academy, where he graduated in 1884. Early work in education and newspaper publishing Campbell commenced his career in education in Buck Ridge, Ohio (along the Ohio River), where he served as a teacher for two years. He also taught in Rutland, Ohio, for some time. Campbell viewed West Virginia as a place for the advancement of African Americans due to the economic opportunities offered by the coal and oil industries. He was hired by Christopher Payne to serve as the editor of Payne's The Pioneer newspaper. In 1887, Payne also hired Campbell to replace him as the editor of the West Virginia Enterprise in Charleston. In reporting Campbell's selection as the Enterprise editor, The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer described Campbell as "an educated young Ohioan" that was "highly spoken of". In addition to his newspaper work, Campbell was also a gifted public speaker. In May 1889, he delivered a lecture entitled "Race Antagonism" at the Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church in Wheeling. The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer remarked that he possessed "a natural gift of oratory, and his address was brimfull of eloquence, besides being instructive and worthy of attention". His lecture earned enough profits for the church to purchase a new Sunday school library. Principal of Langston Academy Campbell was selected by the Point Pleasant Board of Education as the principal of the Point Pleasant Colored School in Point Pleasant in 1891, succeeding Luta Freeman. Under Campbell's leadership, the school relocated to a four-room, two-story brick building, which had been vacated by a white school. Following this relocation, the school was renamed Langston Academy in honor of African-American educator John Mercer Langston. Campbell served as principal of Langston Academy until 1892, when he was succeeded by Ida Wilson. Principal of the West Virginia Colored Institute On April 1, 1892, the Board of Regents of the West Virginia Colored Institute selected Campbell as the institute's first principal. Located in Farm, West Virginia (an unincorporated community later known as Institute), near Charleston, the institute had been founded in 1891 under the Morrill Act of 1890 to provide West Virginia's African Americans with education in agricultural and mechanical studies. Prior to Campbell's selection as principal, an act of