Edith J. Goode

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Edith J. Goode
A young white woman with hair in an updo, in an oval frame
Edith Jeannette Goode, from the 1904 yearbook of Smith College
Born(1882-11-13)November 13, 1882
Springfield, Ohio, U.S.
DiedMarch 14, 1970(1970-03-14) (aged 87)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation(s)Philanthropist, suffragist
Known forBenefactor of the Humane Society of the United States
PartnerAlice Morgan Wright

Edith Jeannette Goode (November 13, 1882[1] – March 14, 1970) was an American suffragist, pacifist, and philanthropist. She was especially involved in the founding of the National Woman's Party and the Humane Society of the United States.

Early life and education

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Goode was born in Springfield, Ohio, the daughter of lawyer Frank Cowan Goode and Jane (Jennie) McKnight Goode.[2] Her father died in 1887,[3] and Goode was raised by her widowed mother in Washington, D.C. She attended Sidwell Friends School and graduated from Smith College in 1904.[4] She was active in the Smith College Alumnae Council.[5][6]

Career

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Goode and her mother were among the founders of the National Woman's Party in 1913,[7] and she served on the Party's national council in 1945.[8] In 1946 she attended United Nations meetings on the status of women, as a representative of the National Woman's Party.[9] She testified before a Senate hearing in 1948.[10] In 1950 she represented the National Council of Women of the United States as a delegate at a housing conference in Washington.[11]

Goode was vice-president of the Washington Humane Society, and recording secretary of the Consumers' League of the District of Columbia.[12] She served on the board of the Humane Society of the United States from 1958 to 1967, and donated a 140-acre estate to the organization. She was a founding member of the World Federation for the Protection of Animals, and a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.[13][14]

Personal life and legacy

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Goode lived in Washington, D.C., and had a summer residence in Vermont.[15] In 1929, she and her cousin Elsie Baskin Adams were named among the heirs of their aunt, Alice Goode Cobb.[16] Goode later donated twenty pieces of Spanish colonial furniture to the National Museum of History and Technology, in Adams's name.[17]

Goode had a longtime relationship with her Smith College classmate, artist Alice Morgan Wright; the two women shared interests in feminism, peace, and animal causes.[18] Wright sculpted a portrait bust of Goode, now in the collection of the Albany Institute of History and Art.[19] Goode died in 1970, at the age of 87, at a hospital in Washington, D.C.[20] A trust in her name funds American organizations focused on preventing cruelty to animals.[21][22]

References

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  1. ^ Some sources give Goode's birth year as 1881; 1882 is the birth year given in her 1924 passport application, which included an affadavit from her mother attesting to her birthdate as November 13, 1882; via Ancestry.
  2. ^ "Jane McKnight Goode (death notice)". Evening star. 1934-04-05. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-10-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "But a Memory Now; The Remains of Frank C. Goode, Esq., Laid to Rest Yesterday". Springfield News-Sun. 1887-11-26. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-10-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Smith College, Class of 1904 (1904 yearbook): 25; via Internet Archive
  5. ^ "The Alumnae Council for the Year 1914-15". Annual Register of the Alumnae Association of Smith College, Report for 1913-1914: 23. 1915.
  6. ^ "Report of the Alumnae Council". The Smith Alumnae Quarterly. 8 (3): 195. April 1917.
  7. ^ "Edith J. Goode". The Washington Daily News. 1970-03-18. p. 53. Retrieved 2025-10-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Election of New Officers". Equal Rights. 31 (6): 68. November–December 1945 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ "At United Nations Meetings". Equal Rights. 32 (3): 30. May–June 1946 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ^ Ray, Elizabeth McElroy (March–April 1948). "Senate Judiciary Holds Hearing". Equal Rights. 34 (2): 17 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ^ United States Congress House Select Committee on Lobbying Activities (1950). Hearings Before the House Select Committee on Lobbying Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-first Congress, Second Session, Created Pursuant to H. Res. 298, March 27, 28, and 30, 1950. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 1148.
  12. ^ "Baker Talks to Consumers". The Washington Herald. 1920-05-05. p. 14. Retrieved 2025-10-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Birke, Lynda (2000-12-01). "Supporting the underdog: feminism, animal rights and citizenship in the work of Alice Morgan Wright and Edith Goode". Women's History Review. 9 (4): 693–719. doi:10.1080/09612020000200261. ISSN 0961-2025. PMID 19526659.
  14. ^ Williams, J. S. (2019-05-30). "Edith Goode". Women In Peace. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  15. ^ "Personals". Vermont Standard. 1938-10-20. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-10-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Mrs. Alice Cobb's Will is Filed for Probate". Evening star. 1929-09-08. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-10-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ United States National Museum (1971). Donors to the National Collections and Staff Publications: National Museum of History and Technology, May 1, 1969 Through April 30, 1970. p. 8.
  18. ^ Ascione, Frank R. (2010). The International Handbook of Animal Abuse and Cruelty: Theory, Research, and Application. Purdue University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-55753-565-8.
  19. ^ "Edith J. Goode". Albany Institute of History and Art. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  20. ^ "Edith J. Goode, 87, Crusader For the Welfare of Animals". The New York Times. March 17, 1970. p. 43. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  21. ^ "Edith J. Goode Residuary Trust". Animal Grandmakers. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  22. ^ "Teaching the humane ethic". The Mobile Register. 1993-05-13. p. 68. Retrieved 2025-10-18 – via Newspapers.com.
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