Rotary Club names two new additions to Hilton Head Island Hall of Fame

The Rotary Club of Hilton Head Island will induct Emory S. Campbell and Caroline “Beany” Newhall into the Hilton Head Island Hall of Fame on Nov.10.

Campbell is being recognized for his contributions to the cultural and environmental heritage of the Lowcountry.

Born and raised on Hilton Head, he was valedictorian of his high school class, earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Savannah State College, and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Tufts University.

Throughout his career – first as the environmental health engineer for the Beaufort-Jasper Health Center and then as executive director of the Penn Center on St. Helena’s Island – he worked to bring public health measures to impoverished rural areas and to preserve and enhance the Gullah heritage of the Sea Islands. He spearheaded the efforts to reestablish the family connection between the Gullah people and the West African nation of Sierra Leone, and, in 2008, was elected Chairman of the Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission. He has been featured in numerous documentaries, news magazines, films, radio and television programs, is author of the Gullah Cultural Legacies guidebook, and currently serves of president of the Gullah Heritage Consulting Service.

Newhall, who died in 1991, is being honored for her role as an environmentalist in preserving the original island habitat and natural beauty of Hilton Head.

A graduate of Smith College, she moved to Hilton Head Island in 1954. She persuaded island developer Charles Fraser to set aside a 50-acre tract of green space that became the Audubon Newhall Preserve on Palmetto Bay Road. Later she was instrumental in development of the Whooping Crane Conservancy in Hilton Head Plantation. As founder and first president of the Hilton Head Island Audubon Club, she lead tours of the preserve and other wildlife areas, protecting native species and coastal waters from the downside of rapid development.

Her activism and leadership helped keep the German chemical company BASF from building a plant on Victoria Bluff across from Hilton Head, preventing pollution of coastal waters and damage to local sea life. She won the Good Citizenship Award and was named Woman of the Year by the Hilton Head Chamber of Commerce in 1972. In addition to the Audubon Newhall Preserve, the boardwalk at Whooping Crane Conservatory carries her name, and Beany Newhall Day was celebrated in 1985 and again in 2010.

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 7:32 AM with the headline "Rotary Club names two new additions to Hilton Head Island Hall of Fame."