Dates: 1917-1963; n.d.

Biography:

James Gooden

James Gooden was the oldest child of Jessie Gooden and Maggie Gooden, who were farmers. According to his World War I draft registration record, he was born on February 1, 1894, in Canton, Madison County, Mississippi. Jessie and Maggie Gooden were later divorced, and by 1920 she was remarried to Ervin Franklin. James Gooden received a bachelor of science degree from Alcorn A&M College in Claiborne County, Mississippi, and later a master’s degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

During World War I, James Gooden served in the United States Army. He was inducted at Canton on July 16, 1918, and initially served in the 164th Depot Brigade at Camp Funston, Kansas. He was sent overseas as part of the August 1918 automatic replacement draft. In Europe, Gooden served in Depot Service Company 11 in the Army Service Corps, part of the American Expeditionary Forces Services of Supply. He returned to the United States in 1919 and was discharged as a sergeant on August 27 of that year.

Gooden was an instructor at the Prentiss Normal & Industrial Institute in Prentiss, Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi, from 1922 to 1926; he was teaching vocational agriculture by 1926. That year, Gooden moved to Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, and would spend the rest of his career with the Jackson public school system.

Gooden taught at Lanier High School until 1929, when he became its principal. In addition to his work in Jackson, he also taught summer classes in Greenwood, Leflore County, Mississippi, from 1928 to 1930. After his service at Lanier, Gooden served as principal of Jones Elementary School from 1935 to 1950, when he was appointed supervisor of African American schools in the Jackson Municipal Separate School District. He retired in 1961. After his retirement, Gooden spoke in defense of segregated schools, fearing the loss of the positive social and educational role schools played in the African American community. However, he supported social equality for African Americans and opposed claims that segregation was necessary due to differences in intellectual capability.

James Gooden married Gustava Rilla Mason, a Jackson native and Northwestern alumna, on June 4, 1930. Gustava Gooden also was a teacher in Jackson’s public schools, spending much of her career teaching at Smith Robertson School and serving as district superintendent for music education.

The Goodens were active members of Mount Helm Baptist Church in Jackson, where Gustava Gooden served as music director and chaired the church’s history committee for over twenty-five years. James Gooden was a church trustee and wrote historical sketches of the congregation for its 135th and 140th anniversary booklets in 1970 and 1975. In 1975, the Goodens still resided in the same home where Gustava Mason Gooden had lived since before their marriage, on East Monument Street in Jackson. James Gooden died in May 1977. Gustava Mason Gooden survived him and died in 1990.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection consists of correspondence, professional papers, financial records, and personal papers related to the life and career and James Gooden, teacher at the Prentiss Normal and Industrial Institute and later teacher, principal, and supervisor in Jackson Public Schools. The collection includes materials related to Gooden’s service in World War I; Jackson United Service Organizations (USO) work during World War II; and the 1963 March on Washington.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1919-1954.

This series primarily consists of incoming correspondence of James Gooden, arranged chronologically. This includes letters from Gustava Mason Gooden; James Gooden’s mother, Maggie Franklin; and his brother, Sydney Gooden. Other frequent writers include Pauline Fredrick Buckley, a fellow teacher Gooden met at Prentiss; Lula Claire Hawthorne of Newark, New Jersey; and a woman identified only as “Lulla,” who wrote from Champaign, Illinois, and Fernwood, Pike County, Mississippi. Some of the letters are written to someone other than Gooden, including a few sent to Gustava Mason Gooden, both before and after her marriage. There are also two unsent letters from James Gooden to Buckley.

Most of the correspondence is personal in nature; the writers discuss their relationships with Gooden and plans to see him. A small amount of the correspondence relates to Gooden’s professional work. This includes correspondence related to fundraising efforts at both the Prentiss Institute and Lanier High School; an invitation to attend graduation ceremonies at Prentiss and correspondence related to Gooden’s departure from teaching there; a letter about a principals’ conference; and correspondence from school vendors. Most of the correspondence related to the Prentiss Institute is from the school’s founder and principal, J. E. Johnson, or his wife. Many of the letters in the series were sent or forwarded to Gooden while he was teaching summer school in Greenwood in the summers of 1928, 1929, and 1930.

The first two letters in the series were sent from France in 1919, and one is written partially in French. They were sent to Gooden while he served in Europe with the United States Army or shortly after his return home, and the writer appears to be a woman he met in France. The series also includes fourteen postcards. Most of these were sent by Hawthorne and contain images of New Jersey, but some were sent by Buckley, “Lulla,” and others. Two are addressed to Gustava Mason Gooden.

Box 1, folders 1-10

 

Series 2: Professional Papers, 1930-1953; n.d.

This series contains materials related to James Gooden’s work as an educator. Of note are programs from teachers’ conferences, a state handbook entitled Mississippi’s Negro Rural Schools, and a guidebook for Lanier High School in the 1952-1953 school year.

Box 1, folders 11-16

 

Series 3: Financial Records, 1925-1941; n.d.

This series consists of receipts from businesses, gift coupons, account and receipt books, statements and brochures from financial institutions, and a deed of trust. The deed is for a plot of land in Jackson sold to Fannie Mason, Gustava Gooden’s sister, by Joseph and Millie Campbell. Notable items in this series include James Gooden’s personal receipt book for 1928-1930 and an account book for Mount Helm Baptist Church.

Box 1, folders 17-22

 

Series 4: Personal Papers, 1917-1963; n.d.

This series includes a range of printed materials and ephemera, reflecting the personal interests and organizational affiliations of James and Gustava Gooden. Items of interest include a program and newsletter from the National Association of Negro Musicians; YMCA pamphlets from World War I; a report on the work of a USO-YMCA club in Jackson during World War II; an issue of The Brownies’ Book, an African American children’s magazine published by W. E. B. Du Bois; and materials related to the church assembly organized by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. as a part of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, March on Washington. The series also includes three photographs and a ledger. Two of the photographs are unlabeled and are posed photographs of a woman; the other is of a group of children and labeled “The Gang.” The ledger contains only a register of names, with no context given.

Box 1, folders 23-30
Box 2

 

Box List:

Box 1

Folders 1-9: Correspondence, 1919-1934.
Folder 10: Postcards, 1921-1954.
Folder 11: Lanier High School handbook and programs, 1930; 1952-1953.
Folder 12: Public school enrollment data for Vicksburg, Greenwood, and Jackson, 1931-1932.
Folder 13: Jackson College documents, 1932-1947; n.d.
Folder 14: Mississippi Association of Teachers in Colored Schools conference programs, 1934; 1938.
Folder 15: Mississippi’s Negro Rural Schools: Suggestions for Their Improvement (state bulletin), 1938.
Folder 16: Class schedule, n.d.
Folder 17: Receipts, 1925-1941.
Folder 18: Gift coupons, account book, and receipt book, 1928-1930; n.d.
Folder 19: Account book for Mt. Helm Church repair fund, 1929.
Folders 20-21: Financial institution brochures and statements, 1930-1931; n.d.
Folder 22: Deed of trust, Joseph and Millie M. Campbell to Fannie Mason, 1939.
Folder 23: Folk Songs of the American Negro, 1917.
Folder 24: Dance invitation, 1933.
Folder 25: National Association of Negro Musicians program and newsletter, 1940.
Folders 26-27: USO and YMCA booklets, 1918; 1944.
Folder 28: The Brownies’ Book, 1920.
Folder 29: Keeping Fit (State Board of Health publication), 1920.
Folder 30: Photographs, n.d.

Box 2

Folders 1-2: Social papers, 1939; n.d.
Folder 3: Campbell College (of Jackson, Mississippi) materials, 1950; n.d.
Folder 4: Church Assembly/March on Washington papers, 1963.
Folder 5: Mt. Helm Church program, n.d.
Folders 6-9: Miscellaneous brochures, advertisement, and ledger, 1930; n.d.