Campbell, Thomas Draper (1893 - 1967)

Summary

Thomas Campbell was Dental Superintendent, Adelaide Hospital and Honorary Curator in Anthropology, South Australian Museum. He lectured in dentistry 1925-1948, was Director of Dental Studies 1949-1953 and foundation professor 1954-1958 at the University of Adelaide. Campbell's doctoral research, published as Dentition and palate of the Australian Aborigines (1925), noted the difference between Aboriginal and European dentition and set new standards for dental anthropology. His interest in anthropology led to his participation in two expeditions into remote South Australia in the 1920s and to him playing a central role in the establishment by the University of Adelaide of the Board of Anthropological Research. For the Board Campbell led and participated in over 15 expeditions. He was Chairman of the Board at the time of his death. In 1951 he led a team of scientists to Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, and directed several ethnographic films about the crafts and skills of the Yuendumu people between 1951 and 1961. His classification of stone tools became the typology used in Australia.

Details

Chronology

1917

Education - Qualified at the Dental Board of South Australia

1917

Career position - Honorary Lieutenant, Australian Army Medical Corps Reserve (Dental)

1919

Education - Graduated from the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Adelaide

1921

Education - Bachelor of Dental Science (BDSc), University of Adelaide

1921 - 1926

Career position - House Surgeon, Dental Department, Adelaide Hospital

1922 - 1967

Award - Fellow, Royal Society of South Australia

1923

Education - Doctor of Dental Science (DDSc), University of Adelaide

1924 - 1940

Career position - Honorary Curator of Anthropology, South Australian Institute

1925 - 1938

Career position - Lecturer in Dentistry, University of Adelaide

1926 - ?

Career position - Dental Superintendent, Adelaide Hospital

1926

Career position - Foundation Member, Anthropological Society of South Australia

1926

Career position - Foundation Board Member, Board of Anthropological Research

1927

Career event - Elected Associate Member (Anthropology), Australian National Research Council

1928 - 1929

Career position - President, Anthropological Society of South Australia

1928 - 1935

Career position - Member of Council, Royal Society of South Australia

1932

Career event - Elected Member (Anthropology), Australian National Research Council

1932 - 1934

Career position - Vice-President, Royal Society of South Australia

1933 - 1940

Career position - Foundation Member of the Board, South Australian Institute

1934 - 1935

Career position - President, Royal Society of South Australia

1937

Career event - Fellow, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)

1938 - 1958

Career position - Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Adelaide

1939

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Adelaide

1940 - 1967

Career position - Member of the Board, South Australian Museum

1944

Career position - President, Anthropological Society of South Australia

1948 - 1967

Career position - Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons, England

1949 - 1953

Career position - Director of Dental Studies, University of Adelaide

1950 - 1967

Career position - Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh

1952 - 1967

Career position - Member, Odontology Section, Royal Society of Medicine, United Kingdom

1954 - 1958

Career position - Foundation Professor of Dentistry, University of Adelaide

1964 - 1967

Career position - Foundation Member, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies

1966 - 1967

Award - Fellow, Australian College of Dental Surgeons

1967

Career position - Chairman, Board of Anthropological Research

Related entries

Archival resources

Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide

• Thomas Draper Campbell - Records, 1925 - 1934, 301.2994/C19; Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide. Details

South Australian Museum Archives

• Thomas Draper Campbell - Records, 1926 - 1965, AA52; South Australian Museum Archives. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Brown, Tasman; Rogers, Ruth, 'Campbell, Thomas Draper (1893-1967), professor of dentistry and anthropologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 13: 1940 - 1980 A-De, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), pp. 361-362. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130402b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Obituary: Thomas Draper Campbell [with selected bibliography]', Records of the South Australian Museum, 15 (4) (1968), 647-670. Details
• Edwards, Robert, 'Obituary: Thomas Draper Campbell (1894-1967)', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 92 (1968), 125, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41031254. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q21538701. Details
• 'Campbell, T D (1893-1967)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-487831. Details

Theses

• Campbell, Thomas Draper, 'Dentition and palate of the Australian Aboriginal from observations on the skull : a study in physical anthropology and dental pathology', DDSc thesis, University of Adelaide, 1923, 294 pp, https://hdl.handle.net/2440/38173. Details

See also

• Jones, P. G., 'South Australian anthropological history: the Board for Anthropological Research and its early expeditions', Records of the South Australian Museum, 20 (1987), 71-92. Details
• Spriggs, Matthew, 'Everything you've been told about the history of Australian archaeology is wrong', Bulletin of the history of archaeology, 30 (1:3) (2020), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.5334/bha-626. Details