Carolyn Elizabeth Goodman (née Drucker; October 6, 1915 – August 17, 2007) was an American clinical psychologist who became a prominent

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

advocate after her son, Andrew Goodman and two other civil rights workers,

James Chaney James Earl Chaney (May 30, 1943 – June 21, 1964) was one of three Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) civil rights workers killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by members of the Ku Klux Klan on June 21, 1964. The others were Andrew Goodman an ...

and

Michael Schwerner Michael Henry Schwerner (November 6, 1939 – June 21, 1964), was one of three Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) field workers killed in rural Neshoba County, Mississippi, by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Schwerner and two co-workers, James Chan ...

, were murdered by the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

Neshoba County, Mississippi Neshoba County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,087. Its county seat is Philadelphia. It was named after ''Nashoba'', a Choctaw chief. His name means "wolf" in the ...

, in 1964. Politically active until age 90, Goodman came to wide public attention again in 2005. Traveling to

Philadelphia, Mississippi Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,118 at the 2020 census. History Philadelphia is incorporated as a municipality; it was given its current name in 1903, two year ...

, she testified at the murder trial of

Edgar Ray Killen Edgar Ray Killen (January 17, 1925 – January 11, 2018) was an American Ku Klux Klan organizer who planned and directed the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, three civil rights activists participating in the ...

, a former Klan leader recently indicted in the case. On June 21, 2005, the 41st anniversary of the killings, a jury acquitted Killen of murder but found him guilty of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

in the deaths of Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner.

Early life and education

Goodman was born in

Woodmere, New York Woodmere is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 17,554 at the 2016 census. Woodmere is one of the Long Island communities known as the Five Towns, w ...

, and earned a bachelor's degree from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1936 and a master's in clinical

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

from the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

in 1953. She completed a doctorate in education from

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

in 1968. Her dissertation was titled ''A study of psychological factors in different fertility and family planning types''. Arleen Otto was her doctoral advisor and

Morton Deutsch Morton Deutsch (February 4, 1920 – March 13, 2017) was an American social psychologist and researcher in conflict resolution. Deutsch was one of the founding fathers of the field of conflict resolution. A '' Review of General Psychology'' surve ...

served on her dissertation committee.

Activism

After her marriage to Robert W. Goodman, a civil engineer, in the late 1930s, their apartment became a haven for progressive artists and intellectuals. In the 1950s, the Goodmans were deeply involved in the fight against

McCarthyism McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origin ...

;

Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in con ...

was a guest on occasion. In 1964, Andrew, then a student at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

, told his parents he planned to go to Mississippi. "It wasn't easy for us ... But we couldn't talk out of both sides of our mouths. So I had to let him go", she told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in 2005.

Murders

In 1967, a federal jury in

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...

, convicted seven Klansmen of conspiracy in the deaths of the three civil rights workers. None served more than six years. In January 2005,

, who in 1967 had been released due to a hung jury, was arrested and charged with murder by the State of Mississippi. At his trial, Goodman read a postcard her son wrote on June 21, 1964, the last day of his life

"Dear Mom and Dad," it read, "I have arrived safely in Meridian, Miss. This is a wonderful town, and the weather is fine. I wish you were here. The people in this city are wonderful, and our reception was very good. All my love, Andy."

Andrew Goodman Foundation

In 1966, Carolyn and her husband Robert established the Andrew Goodman Foundation, which supports a variety of social causes. After Carolyn's death in August 2007, David Goodman, Andrew's younger brother, and Sylvia Golbin Goodman, David's wife, took up the work of the Foundation. On the 50th anniversary of Andrew's death, the foundation officially launched Vote Everywhere, which is a national, non-partisan, civic engagement movement of student leaders and university partners. The program is crafted to follow in the footsteps of Andrew Goodman with its mission rooted in tackling impediments to voter registration and other social justice issues on college campuses.

Personal life

Her husband Robert Goodman died of a stroke in 1969, aged 54. Her second husband, Joseph Eisner, whom she had married in 1972, died in 1992. Goodman, who had suffered a series of strokes and seizures in the weeks before her death, died of natural causes in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, aged 91. At her death, she was assistant clinical professor emeritus of psychiatry at

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a research-intensive medical school located in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein operates as an independent degree-granting institution as part of t ...

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universit ...

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. She was surrounded by her sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A memorial service was held on October 7, 2007, in Manhattan.Obituary
nytimes.com; August 18, 2007; accessed May 14, 2015.

Selected works

*''My Mantelpiece: A Memoir of Survival and Social Justice'' by Carolyn Goodman (with Brad Herzog), Why Not Books; .

References

External links

How the Mississippi Burning Case Was Reopened
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Carolyn American women psychologists 20th-century American psychologists 20th-century American Jews American civil rights activists Women civil rights activists Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Cornell University alumni People from Manhattan People from Woodmere, New York City University of New York alumni 1915 births 2007 deaths Activists from New York (state) Yeshiva University faculty Jewish activists Jewish human rights activists 20th-century American women 20th-century American people American women academics 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women