History of Charles Sampson

Charles Sampson was an educator who came to Bates during World War II and was named coordinator of veteran students’ affairs. Sampson came during World War II to teach in the V-12 program, a naval officer training unit that saved college students financially during the war. He involved himself in every aspect of the new married veterans’ housing project. He was so involved that he was even informally considered the “mayor” of Sampsonville. Due to his work and support of the veterans and the barracks, the living quarters were named "Sampsonville" after Charles Sampson. One key part of Sampsonville life was the “Batesville Bugle,” the name Sampson applied to his mimeographed weekly newspaper.  It later became "Sampsonville Sun" because it was chiefly written for and read by the people living in Sampsonville.