Fonds AR459 - Jim Campbell fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Jim Campbell fonds

General material designation

  • Multiple media

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  • Source of title proper: Title is based on the content of the fonds.

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

CA UVICARCH AR459

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1968 - 2007 (Creation)
    Creator
    Campbell, Jim, 1949-2007

Physical description area

Physical description

4.3 m of textual records and other materials

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(1949-2007)

Biographical history

Jim Campbell was an anarchist and publisher, primarily devoted to prison activism. Campbell was born on November 20, 1949 in Shelburn, Ontario, and grew up on the family farm near Orangeville. In the 1960s Campbell studied mathematics at the University of Waterloo before becoming active in various projects and issues such as food- and housing-cooperatives. In the late 1970s Campbell helped establish one of several hippie communes "Dragonfly farm" in the Bancroft, Ontario, which still operates; he left the commune in 1981. Campbell supported his activist activities through his work as a City of Toronto municipal worker.

Campbell was a significant figure through his involvement in the formation of the Bulldozer collective in Toronto in 1980 and the creation of the Bulldozer/Prison News Service (PNS) newsletter, which began publishing the same year. Bulldozer/PNS was modeled on the anarchist journal Open Road, which began in 1976 in Vancouver, and for which Campbell worked in 1977 and where he became more involved in activist oriented politics and prison issues. Regarding Bulldozer/PNS Campbell stated that "We never wrote long essays telling prisoners what they should think. Rather we tried to provide a forum in which prisoners, individually and collectively, could articulate and develop their politics."

Through Bulldozer collective activities Campbell contributed to raising awareness regarding the treatment of indigenous peoples, the Black Panther movement, violence against women and pornography, and to the activities of the Direct Action group. To bring attention to environmental degradation and the military-industrial complex, Direct Action (also known as the "Squamish Five," and the "Vancouver Five") bombed a BC Hydro substation on Vancouver Island in May 1982, and a Litton Industries factory in Toronto in October 1982; Litton Industries produced components for American cruise missiles. Bulldozer collective support the distribution of Direct Action support leaflets, and as a result the office of Bulldozer was raided by police in 1983. After a hiatus in publishing, Campbell continued to assist in the publication of the prison newsletter the Marionette, which then became Prison News Service.

Campbell continued to be engaged in the changing anarchist movement in Canada until his death September 17, 2007 in Maynooth Ontario, at age 57. He worked with Dr. Allan Antliff on Only A Beginning: An Anarchist Anthology, contributing pieces "Bulldozer/PNS" and "Racism." Campbell is survived by his partner Julie Thiers.

Custodial history

Scope and content

The fonds consists of correspondence from Jim Campbell to Malcolm Archibald (1976-1981). Also includes an Easter 1976 b&w photograph of Malcolm Archibald, Patricia Hughes and Jim Campbell; a copy of Bulldozer newsletter; and an unpublished article by Stu Vickars for Kick It Over (2007). Also includes a CD-R copy of an interview with Jim Campbell from the 1990s re the Ontario "Dragonfly Commune" from the 1970s-1980s. The fonds includes materials relating to prisons and prisoners' rights, and also consists of audio cassettes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, posters, publications, sketches, video cassettes, and an extensive collection of newsletters. Newsletter titles include Akwesasne Notes - Mohawk Nation, Black Panther: Black Community News Service, Crossroad, The Insurgent: Newsletter of the Committee to Fight Repression, No more cages: Women's Prison Newsletter.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Gift of Julie Thiers, 2011.

Arrangement

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Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Select items from the personal collection of Jim Campbell have been digitized and are available through UVic Digital Collections.

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Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Finding aids

Finding aid available with file level control.

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Accruals

General note

Part of the Anarchist Archive.

General note

Publications in boxes 7 to 11 were removed to be catalogued. (February 2025)

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Status

Revised

Level of detail

Partial

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Created by JF, July 17, 2020.

Language of description

  • English

Script of description

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