RALEIGH â May I tell you a bit about the pioneering Campbells of eastern North Carolina? The patriarch of the family, minister James Archibald Campbell, founded a school in Buies Creek in 1887 that we now know as Campbell University. In the early days, privation and bad luck sometimes forced âJim Archâ to keep institution alive through sheer force of will. When he died in 1934, his son Leslie Hartwell Campbell was the unanimous choice of its board to take over as leader. At 42, L.H. Campbell was at the time North Carolinaâs youngest college president. He continued the familyâs pioneering ways, expanding the campus in size and scope. It became a four-year institution, and the home of the first Paul Green Theater, named after the distinguished playwright and alumnus.