Herman Campbell

Entertainer, Soldier, Librarian, Family Man. Herman was the baby son of Mr. & Mrs. Farley and Gertrude Campbell. Herman was the youngest of his siblings (Robert, Farley/ Junie, Velma & Ella Mae). He was born at John Hopkins Hospital and raised in East Baltimore during World War II. He graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar Junior and Senior High School on June 13, 1958. A talented dancer, Deborah London Dance Studio offered Herman a scholarship, where he studied ballet, modern and jazz dancing.

Herman also worked at Johns Hopkins University Library for two years; while working there he took two classes at Johns Hopkins Night School, McCoy College, in 1959. He attended Juilliard School of Music in New York City in the early 1960's on a dance scholarship. He was drafted and served in the Armed Forces from 1963-1965. In 1970, he went to Morgan State University and graduated in 1974 with a B.S. degree in Business. He went on the work as a Librarian for the Department of Corrections and the Enoch Pratt Library for 32 years.

Herman started entertaining in his teens; his first performance was with the Fellowship House Choir in the mid 50's. The Fellowship House was one of the first integrated choirs in Baltimore City. He started dancing in his senior year of high school. He performed in the Christian and Jewish Brotherhood Pageant at the Jewish Community Center, television stations and Summer Stock in Owings Mills. Some of the shows he performed in were Finian's Rainbow, Anything Goes, The Baggers Opera and various other performances around Baltimore City. Herman started singing in night clubs while stationed in Fort Benning, GA. He was a lounge singer in the NCO Cocktail Lounge. Once back in Baltimore, he started to sit in at jazz clubs around town which is where he met some of Baltimore's finest Jazz musicians such as Mickey Fields, Danny Brown, Calvin Vaughn and Eddie Gough, to name a few. He worked with Mickey Fields and Calvin Vaughn for 5 years at Everyday People, Brice's Hilltop Inn, Bird Cage, Sportsman Lounge, Alpine Village and served as the Jazz Coordinator for the Club Gypsies on Lombard Street in Baltimore. Herman entertained in Baltimore for over 40 years.