Collection Guide
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Goodman (John B.) Collection
MSS 0026
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: John B. Goodman Collection
Creator:
Goodman, John B. (John Bartlett), 1901-1991
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0026
Physical Description:
12.8 Linear feet
(20 archives boxes, 4 card file boxes, 2 flat boxes, and 8 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1814 - 1991
Abstract: Collection of John Bartlett Goodman, III (1901-1991), motion picture art director, bibliophile, author, and collector of Western
Americana. Materials include manuscripts, correspondence, movie research materials, artwork and sketches, family memorabilia,
ephemera, photographs, postcards, newspaper clippings and historical manuscripts associated with Goodman's interest and research
on the American West.
Languages:
English
.
Scope and Contents of Collection
The John B. Goodman Collection contains manuscripts, correspondence, movie research materials, artwork and sketches, family
memorabilia, ephemera, photographs, postcards, newspaper clippings and historical manuscripts associated with Goodman's interest
and research on the American West. The collection is arranged in eleven series: 1) GOODMAN COLLECTION CATALOG, 2) WRITINGS,
3) MOVIE RESEARCH, 4) ARTWORK AND SKETCHES, 5) MATERIALS LAID IN BOOKS, 6) CORRESPONDENCE, 7) GOODMAN FAMILY MATERIALS, 8)
EPHEMERA, 9) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, 10) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 11) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES.
John Bartlett Goodman, III, was born August 15, 1901 in Denver, Colorado and moved to California by the age of three, first
to San Diego and then to Los Angeles in 1916. After high school he worked in an architect's office, but left in 1920 after
a short time to join the art department of the Famous Players Lasky Company, an early motion-picture company. Goodman's forty-seven
year professional career in the motion-picture industry included work on 252 movies. He spent seventeen years with Paramount
Studios, worked for Warner Brothers Studios, and served as supervising art director (1942-1945) for Universal Studios, after
which, he pursued a freelance career as an independent art director. Goodman won an Oscar for his color art direction of the
Phantom of the Opera in 1943. He was the art director for the films
The Mountain (1955) and
Rawhide (1959) and the weekly television series
Rawhide (1961-1965). Goodman retired from film work in 1967.
At the same time he entered the film industry, Goodman began his lifelong avocation as a bibliophile interested in American
maritime history, early sailing ships, the American West, and California and the Gold Rush. He was a founding member of the
Los Angeles Corral of Westerners (1946) and a member of the Zamorano Club since May 1947. Goodman's major works include
The California Gold Rush Fleet (1992), the jointly authored and published
Scraps of Californiana series, a collection of six Christmas keepsakes for Zamorano Club members, and
An Annotated Bibliography of California County Histories, an extensive unpublished manuscript. Goodman's historical and bibliophilic interests complemented his art direction, especially
his passion for historically accurate set designs.
John Goodman died on June 30, 1991 in Los Angeles County, California.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
John B. Goodman Collection, MSS 26. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquired 1992, 2021.
Extremely brittle documents have been photocopied for preservation. These original documents are restricted; researchers may
use photocopies located in the collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California -- Description and travel
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Description and travel
San Diego (Calif.) -- Description and travel
Motion pictures -- Setting and scenery
California -- Gold discoveries
California -- History -- 1850-1950
California -- History -- 1846-1850
Photographic prints -- 20th century
Photographic prints -- 19th century
Baja California (Mexico : Peninsula) -- Description and travel
Theater -- California -- San Diego
Book collecting
Ships -- Reconstruction
Ships -- Drawings
Ships -- Pictorial works
Motion pictures -- Art direction
Goodman, John B. (John Bartlett), 1901-1991 -- Archives
Goodman family -- Archives
Miller, Roland -- Correspondence
Constitution (Frigate)
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation
Miller, Victoria -- Correspondence