Summary Information
Carlton Benjamin Goodlett Papers
1942-1967
- Goodlett, Carlton Benjamin, 1914-
Micro 430
3 reels of microfilm (35mm)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of Carlton Goodlett, a San Francisco physician, publisher of the Sun-Reporter, and civil rights, peace, and political activist. Subject files consist of correspondence, speeches and articles, form letters, brochures, clippings, and reports mainly relating to his civil rights activities and his involvement in the international peace movement. Civil rights materials concern local discrimination in employment, demonstrations against such discrimination, and local and national attempts to influence government and legislation especially with California governor Edmund “Pat” Brown. Much material from the years when Goodlett headed the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP (1947-1949) is included. Prominent correspondents include S. I. Hayakawa, Hugh B. Hester, Bertrand Russell, and representatives of the American Negro Leadership Conference on Africa, the California Negro Leadership Conference, the Committee for Peaceful Alternatives, and the Congress of Racial Equality.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr0430 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Carlton B. Goodlett was born July 23, 1914, in Chipley, Florida and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He received his B.S. from Howard University in 1935; his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California three years later, at the age of 23; and his M.D. from Meharry Medical College in 1944. Be opened his medical office in San Francisco and soon became deeply involved in a wide variety of community affairs, especially in the civil rights and peace movements and in politics. He served as president of the San Francisco branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1947-1949; was a member of the American Society of African Culture and of the National Committee on Africa; was vice-chairman of the North California Committee on Africa; was a participant in the American Negro Leadership Conference on Africa, 1962 and 1964; and was chairman of the California Negro Leadership Conference. He also is president of the San Francisco Foundation to Study Our Schools. Areas of civil rights activity include housing employment, and discrimination in the courts.
An internationally-active peace advocate, Dr. Goodlett served as chairman of the Committee for International Peace Action. He was a supporter of the World Council of Peace and attended peace meetings and conferences in Moscow (1959?, 1962, and 1964), Stockholm (1963), Warsaw (1963), Budapest (1964), East Berlin (1964), Argentina (1964), Nagasaki (1964), Brussels (1965), and Helsinki (1965). In 1966, he ran unsuccessfully in the California gubernatorial primary as a Democratic peace candidate.
After beginning medical practice in San Francisco, Goodlett in 1949 expanded his area of activity by becoming publisher of the Sun-Reporter, a weekly newspaper aimed at the San Francisco Negro community. He subsequently became a director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
Carlton Goodlett was married to Willette Hill in 1942. They are parents of one son.
Scope and Content Note
The Goodlett Papers on this film span the years 1942, 1946-1967. They filled almost two cubic feet of space prior to filming and include correspondence, speeches and articles, form letters and brochures, clippings, reports, and miscellaneous material. They are organized into one alphabetical sequence, mainly of subject and organization titles. (A complete list of titles is below.) When the quantity of material under a title warranted, the correspondence was segregated and put into its own file unit preceding the retaining materials under that title. For example, the file unit “Peace: Correspondence, 1959-1966” immediately precedes the file unit “Peace: Miscellaneous materials, 1962-1967.” Civil Rights and peace are the dominant subject themes of the papers. Civil rights materials concern discrimination in employment, in the courts, and in government appointments; demonstrations against such discrimination; local and national attempts to influence government and legislation; and national and regional leadership conferences. Much material from the years when Goodlett headed the San Francisco N.A.A.C.P. branch is included. Of particular interest are items testifying to Goodlett's and others' gradual disillusionment with California's Governor “Pat” Brown and Brown's defense of his actions and criticism of the Negro press (See “Brown, Edmund C. 'Pat,' 1960”). Also interesting is a 1962 exchange of letters between Goodlett and S. I. Hayakawa, the general semanticist (See “N.A.A.C.P.: Correspondence”).
In contrast to Dr. Goodlett's involvement in civil rights activities, which was generally within the framework of formal organizations, his involvement in the peace movement, as evidenced by these papers, seems to be less that of an organization's representative than that of an individual working privately with other individuals. He corresponds with people from Germany, Hungary, Britain, Canada, Australia, India, and the Soviet Union; and he discusses finances, trip arrangements, the state of the American Peace movement, and efforts to gain the admission of mainland China to the United Nations. Of special interest in this subject area is a letter written by Goodlett and dated January 21, 1964 (in “Peace: Correspondence”), describing the dissension in the American peace movement, and a letter to Goodlett from Julie Medlock discussing and enclosing a copy of a letter from Retread Russell concerning Russell's role and the role and problems of his protegé Ralph Schoenman (in “Peace: Correspondence,” September 16, 1965).
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Carlton B. Goodlett, San Francisco, California, April 1, 1968.
Processed by Karen J. Baumann, July, 2, 1968.
Contents List
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Negro Leadership Conference on Africa, 1962 and 1964
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Reel
1
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Correspondence, 1962-1966
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Reel
1
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Miscellaneous Materials, 1962
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Reel
1
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Papers Presented, 1962
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Reel
1
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Miscellaneous Materials and Papers Presented, 1964
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Reel
1
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Bay Area Committee of 1000 for a Sound Foreign Policy, 1959
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Reel
1
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Behavioral Science Research Institute, 1962-1963
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Reel
1
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Brown, Edmund G. “Pat,” 1960
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California Negro Leadership Conference
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Reel
1
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Correspondence, 1959-1965
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Reel
1
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Miscellaneous Materials, 1960-1965
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Reel
1
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Civil Liberties, 1949-1951; 1956; 1959; undated
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Committee for Peaceful Alternatives
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Reel
1
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Correspondence, 1950-1951
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Reel
1
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Miscellaneous Materials, 1950
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Committee for Representation in Government
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Reel
1
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Correspondence, 1962-1963
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Reel
1
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Miscellaneous Materials, 1963
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Congress of Racial Equality
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Reel
1
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Correspondence, 1962-1965
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Reel
1
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Miscellaneous Materials, 1963-1965
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Reel
1
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Courts, San Francisco, 1964-1965
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Reel
2
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Friends of Africa and America: Correspondence, 1964-1965
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Reel
2
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Goodlett for Governor, 1966
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Reel
2
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Grape Strikers, 1965-1966
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Reel
2
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Hester, Brigadier General Hugh B.: Correspondence and Articles, 1962-1965
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Reel
2
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House Un-American Activities Committee, 1963-1965
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Reel
2
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Institute for Social Thought, 1963-1985
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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
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Reel
2
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Correspondence, 1942; 1946-1950; 1456; 1956-1966
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Reel
2
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Miscellaneous Materials, 1946-1950; 1956; 1959-1964; undated
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Reel
3
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Negro Cultural Heritage, 1957; 1962-1964
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Peace
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Reel
3
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Correspondence, 1959-1966
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Reel
3
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Miscellaneous Materials, 1962-1967; undated
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Politics
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Reel
3
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Correspondence, 1957-1962
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Reel
3
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Miscellaneous Materials, 1940; 1959-1961
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Race Relations
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Reel
3
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Correspondence, 1949; 1956-1963
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Reel
3
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Miscellaneous Materials, 1949-1960; 1964; 1966; undated
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Reel
3
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San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation, 1966
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Reel
3
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Sigma Pi Phi, 1950; 1954-1959; undated
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Reel
3
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Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1961-1965
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Reel
3
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Speaking Engagements and Articles: Correspondence, 1963-1967
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Reel
3
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Speeches and Articles, 1950; 1959; 1462-1967; undated
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Reel
3
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Sun-Reporter, 1955; 1960-1966; undated
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Reel
3
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United San Francisco Freedom Movement, 1963-1964
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Reel
3
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Worthy, William, 1962-1963
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Reel
3
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Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1948-1950; 1957-1966
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Reel
3
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Unidentified notebook, undated
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