Campbell declined the scholarship and chose instead to enroll in Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1908, where she received financial support from the Congregational Church.

In 1913, she co-founded the Delta Sigma Theta sorority at Howard and took part in the Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington, D.C.

In June of that year, she graduated cum laude from Howard University with a bachelor of arts degree in education.

Having long survived her husband and son, she spent her final years in a Seattle nursing home and died peacefully at age 100.

[9] In 2018 and 2019, the Northwest African American Museum featured an exhibition on Campbell and Mona Humphries Bailey, the 17th president of Delta Sigma Theta.