CAMPBELL, MARION WINTON STRONGHEART (c. 1897-1944) was a composer of operas, a crusader for Native American rights, and the 3rd wife of ALEXANDER WINTON. A native of Bellefontaine, O., she first attracted local notice as the composer and librettist of Love's Wishing Well, a light opera given its premiere by the original CLEVELAND OPERA CO. on 7 March 1927. Based upon Irish folklore, the work brought Campbell to the attention of the automobile magnate, Winton, who married her later that year. Campbell became interested in the history of the American Indian, which became the inspiration for another opera, The Seminole. It received its premiere on 12 June 1929, in concert form, under a tent on the Winton estate in CLIFTON PARK. Among the first-nighters were Gov. and Mrs. Myers Y. Cooper of Ohio, CHIEF THUNDERWATER of Cleveland, and Samuel Insull of Chicago, the utility tycoon and opera impresario. On 18 Sept. 1929 Campbell founded the Women's National League for Justice to American Indians, but her crusading zeal on behalf of Native Americans contributed to her estrangement from Winton. Following her divorce in 1930, she married Chief Nipo Strongheart, a Yakima Indian from Washington state. She and Strongheart were divorced in 1933. After living in the Los Angeles area, she apparently spent her last years in Florida.
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