The John F. Campion collection consists of images, correspondence and other documents, most of it relating to the work done on behalf of the Colorado Museum of Natural History (now the Denver Museum of Nature & Science) by Campion, first president of the Museum's board of trustees and donor of a large gold collection. The first part of the collection, held in 28 file folders in a 2.5 x 15.5 x 10 inch box, contains files and correspondence of Campion. Many letters are original, though some have been reproduced and included as photocopies. The dates of this portion range from 1894 (a set of letters relating to specimen showcases that Campionâ‚‚s mining firm was seeking to buy) to 1908 (financial correspondence, timelines and letters discussing the ongoing work of the Museum's building committee). There is also an 1897 exchange of letters between Campion and Edwin Carter, whose donation of mounted Colorado bird and mammal specimens was the founding collection of the new Museum, incorporated in 1900. Other letters and memos from the early 1900s document the progress and stumbling blocks encountered by Museum trustees as the new building was designed and constructed. Later documents, dating from the Museum's second decade, deal with exhibit installations. A Jan. 3, 1911, letter to Campion from V.H. Borcherdt, curator, describes "inaccuracies" in some displays of mammals species, including bison "in full winter pellage" set amid a mid-summer context and a group of wild turkey whose ranks included a domestic male specimen. The later files also included budget requests and financial reports. The Campion collection's second part, contained in eight file folders in a 2.5 x 15 x 10-inch box, dates from 1900-1917. The group of miscellaneous documents includes agreements relating to Campion's mining business and letters discussing to his other charitable endeavors, including a donation to the University of Colorado. There also is a 1901 letter from Charles W. Harris, Commissioner to the Colorado Department of Game and Fish, to Campion revoking the latter's hunting permit, and a book of humorous sketches, poetry and cartoons commemorating a train trip taken by Campion, his wife and two other couples. The third and final part of the Campion collection consists of 19 images. Many of them relate to the Campion gold collection and include prints and negatives of the gold on exhibit and negatives showing the exhibit safe. Among the images are also portraits of Campion and his wife, Nellie, a print depicting a plaque in memory of Campion, and a copy slide of an oil painting of Campion.
