Sophia Faulkner graduated from Framingham Normal School in January 1867. After graduating, she taught at the renowned Perkins Institution (now known as the Perkins School for the Blind), a specialized school for the blind founded by Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe. It was here that she met her husband, Tennessean Francis Campbell, later knighted as Sir Francis Campbell to commemorate his contributions to the blind. He was the co-founder of the Royal Normal College for the Blind in London and a lifelong advocate for education for blind pupils. He himself was an adventurous man, being the very first blind man to climb Mont Blanc, and an advocate for the “Help us help ourselves” style of instruction for the blind that was very modern and forward-thinking at this time. Faulkner met Campbell in the summer of 1874 while teaching at Perkins, and was later selected to be one of his teachers on staff at the newly opened Royal Normal College for the Blind at his urging.
The Royal Normal College flourished under Lady Sophia Campbell’s supervision. Many articles emphasize her marriage to Sir Campbell as being a partnership, for he “could not work alone.” Truly, Sophia’s credentials were a vital part of the Royal Normal College’s success and notoriety. She was appointed Lady Superintendent, and thus had some power over curriculum and staff, and was widely respected by her pupils, and by notable people involved in the British educational system.
The Campbells’ children would go on to follow in their parents’ very large footsteps by raising funds for blind education, teaching at Perkins, and managing the American office of the Royal Normal School, as they had settled in Massachusetts despite the fact that Lady Campbell remained in England until her husband’s death in 1914. Lady Campbell’s daughter and granddaughter were also both graduates of Framingham Normal School, continuing the legacy of strong pioneering women advocating for education. May Campbell, Sophia’s only daughter, was tragically killed in the 1905 Baker Bridge train accident in Lincoln, MA. She endured the loss of both husband and daughter with strength, and returned to Acton, Massachusetts to live out the remainder of her life in her home country.
Though sometimes overshadowed by her husband’s name and legacy, there is no question that Lady Sophia Campbell’s contributions to the Royal Normal College for the Blind, and to educating blind people as a whole throughout her life, were invaluable steps toward our current progressive education system.
Lady Sophia Campbell died on June 18th, 1933.