Persia Crawford Campbell

Persia Gwendoline Crawford Campbell (1898–1974) was an Australian-born American economist who championed consumer rights worldwide.

Early life Persia Crawford Campbell, was born March 15, 1898, at Nerrigundah, New South Wales. She was the daughter of school teachers, Rodolfe Archibald Clarence Campbell and his second wife Beatrice Hunt. Persia was educated in Sydney at Fort Street Girls' High School before going on to university, where she took her B.A from the University of Sydney in 1918, followed by her M.A. in 1920. She took her M.Sc. in economics in 1922. before transferring to the Bureau of Statistics in 1928. Her interest in Fabian socialism and feminism, gained the attention of many in intellectual circles.

Move to the United States Campbell was offered a Rockefeller fellowship to study agricultural policy in the US in 1930. A year later she married Edward Rice, a widower with three children. They lived in Flushing, New York, and their family expanded to two further children. Governor Averell Harriman of New York State appointed her to his cabinet in 1955 in the role of consumer counsel.

Campbell retired from Queens College in 1965. She held an honorary appointment with the University of North Carolina the following year, and travelled widely. She was chairperson of the international aid committee of the International Organisation of Consumers Unions and represented this body at meetings of the United Nations. She wrote for the United Nations journal, International Development Review discussing economic and social programs. She later served on President Lyndon B. Johnson's committee on consumer interests in 1964,

Her papers are collected within the Center for the Study of the Consumer Movement and the New York State Archives.

Memberships Member-American Economic Association Director-Consumers Union of the U.S. Member-American Association of University Women