By Alexandra Janvey and Nicole Milano
Title: Joshua G.B. Campbell Collection, ca. 1915-1928
Predominant Dates:1915-1919
ID: RG1/052
Creator: Campbell, Joshua G.B. (Joshua Gabriel Baker) (b. 1888)
Extent: 0.6 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement: This collection is arranged into folders based on material type, and the folders are arranged alphabetically by title. All documents in the “Papers” folder have been arranged chronologically.
Date Acquired: 00/00/1956
Joshua Gabriel Baker Campbell was an American Field Service (AFS) and United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) ambulance driver during World War I. The Joshua G. B. Campbell Collection consists of his diary, papers (including citations and honors), a Christmas card from artist and fellow driver Victor White, maps, three photographs, an SSU 1 canvas field bag with the unit's Indian head logo, and a booklet about his dog, Khaki, all related to his service with AFS and the USAAS during World War I.
The Joshua G.B. Campbell Collection consists of his diary, papers (including citations and honors), a Christmas card from artist and fellow driver Victor White, maps, three photographs, an SSU 1 canvas field bag containing the unit’s Indian head logo, and a booklet about his dog, Khaki, all related to his service with the American Field Service (AFS) and the U.S. Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) during World War I.
His diary provides a personal account of his service as an ambulance driver with AFS unit SSU 1, and includes an inserted menu from a Christmas dinner in 1915. While his service with AFS was from December 1915 through August 1916, the diary entries were added between June and August 1916. Campbell recounts the events from December 1915, when his unit was heading back to France from Belgium, until May 1916 in the beginning of his journal; it appears these events were explained in more detail in a previous diary, which had been either lost or stolen. The events between June and August 1916 are covered in more detail, as they were occurring as he was writing them. Campbell describes his activities, places where his unit was stationed, being shelled by Germans, and gives places he visited. He also describes his personal response to what he sees and discusses how the war changes him during his time with AFS. While most of the diary is written in English, he also includes transcriptions of documents that were originally written in French.
In addition to the diary, the collection includes Campbell’s citations and honors with related documentation (some of which is written in French), including his certificate of completion from the officer’s course at Meaux, the nomination card for the Verdun Medal, correspondence regarding the AFS Medal from the AFS Headquarters in Paris, and later correspondence regarding the Legion of Honor (Légion d’Honneur) for his service with the French military during the war, dated 1915-1928. The collection also contains four French maps that are dated between 1914 and 1917.
In addition to the documentation, the collection includes a canvas carrying case for SSU 1 (which includes the Indian head logo for the unit) and three photographs that are of Campbell and his dog Khaki, mascot of AFS unit SSU 1, in 1915. There is a photograph of Campbell sitting in the driver’s seat of an ambulance, and another of Khaki with an SSU 1 driver named Richardson in Dunkirk. The final photograph depicts Campbell holding Khaki on his shoulders alongside four SSU 1 drivers. This photograph was published in a booklet entitled “Khaki, the true story of how a brave dog cheered and helped his master in his work for the wounded in France” (Stead’s Publishing House; The Arden Press, u.d.), which is also included in the collection. The booklet tells the story of Khaki and his time with SSU 1 in Belgium in 1915, and includes handwritten notes by Campbell that provide commentary on its production and the men depicted in several of the photographs. The commentary was written forty years after the booklet was published, and indicates that it was originally published by Campbell’s British friends without his knowledge.
Alternate Extent Statement: 2 boxes
Access Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Digital copies of the diary, menu inserted into the diary, and booklet entitled “Khaki, the true story of how a brave dog cheered and helped his master in his work for the wounded in France” (Stead’s Publishing House; The Arden Press, u.d.), and his canvas carrying case can be accessed through the online finding aid. Researchers must consult the digital copies first; permission to access the originals is required in advance.
Cotton gloves are required for the handling of all photographic material. Permission to view the maps, one of which is torn, is required by the AFS Archives in advance.
Use Restrictions: Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be submitted in writing to the AFS Archives. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.
Acquisition Method: The collection was donated to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs by Joshua G.B. Campbell in 1956 and 1957.
Appraisal Information: No items were deaccessioned, separated, or removed from the collection.
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Date]; Joshua G.B. Campbell Collection; Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs, New York, NY.
Processing Information: This collection was partially processed by AFS Archives staff at an unknown date, again by Alexandra Janvey in October 2011, and by Nicole Milano in January 2013. Preliminary finding aid written and encoded in EAD by Alexandra Janvey in November 2011, and updated by Nicole Milano in 2013. Finding aid updated by Shirra Rockwood in September 2016.
