George Brown Goode (February 13, 1851 – September 6, 1896), was an American
ichthyologist and museum administrator. He graduated from
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
and studied at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
.
Early life and family
George Brown Goode was born February 13, 1851, in
New Albany, Indiana, to Francis Collier Goode and Sarah Woodruff Crane Goode. He spent his childhood in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, Ohio and
Amenia, New York. He married Sarah Ford Judd on November 29, 1877. She was the daughter of
Orange Judd, a prominent agricultural writer. Together, they had four children: Margaret Judd, Kenneth Mackarness, Francis Collier, and Philip Burwell.
In addition to his scientific publications, Goode wrote
Virginia Cousins: A Study of the Ancestry and Posterity of John Goode of Whitby'where he traced his ancestry back to John Goode, a 17th-century colonist from
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
.
[
]
Career
In 1872, Goode started working with Spencer Baird
Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He eventually ...
, soon becoming his trusted assistant. While working with Baird, Goode led research sponsored by the United States Fish Commission
The United States Fish Commission, formally known as the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, was an agency of the United States government created in 1871 to investigate, promote, and preserve the fisheries of the United States. In 1 ...
, and oversaw many Smithsonian displays and exhibitions, for the museum itself and for expositions around the world; Goode's first of these were the preparations for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...
, for which the Smithsonian was responsible for all the government displays. He also served as the assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in charge of the United States National Museum
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
.
Goode effectively ran both the fish research program of the U.S. Fish Commission and the Smithsonian Institution from 1873 to 1887. He was the United States Commissioner for Fish and Fisheries from 1887 to 1888. He authored many books and monographs and wrote more than 100 scientific reports and notes.
Goode was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
. He received from the Queen Regent of Spain the decoration of Commander in the Order of Isabella the Catholic
The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...
. He also was awarded the degree of Ph.D. from Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
and that of LL.D. from Wesleyan University. In 1893, he served as President of the Philosophical Society of Washington
Founded in 1871, the Philosophical Society of Washington is the oldest scientific society in Washington, D.C. It continues today as PSW Science.
Since 1887, the Society has met regularly in the assembly hall of the Cosmos Club. In the Club's pr ...
. He died at Lanier Heights
Lanier Heights is a small urban neighborhood located in the northwest section of Washington, D.C. It was one of the early planned subdivisions which were created inside the District of Columbia, but which lay outside of the original, officially ...
in Washington, D.C., on September 6, 1896, at the age of only 45, after a bout with pneumonia. He had been at work on a history of the Smithsonian's first fifty years, which were being celebrated in 1896. The then head of the Smithsonian, Samuel Pierpont Langley
Samuel Pierpont Langley (August 22, 1834 – February 27, 1906) was an American aviation pioneer, astronomer and physicist who invented the bolometer. He was the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and a professor of astronomy a ...
, completed the volume and wrote a memorial to Goode, published in 1901. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Eponymy
The genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Goodea
''Goodea'' is a genus of splitfins that are endemic to Mexico. They are found in a wide range of habitats in several river basins that originate in the Central Plateau, such as Pánuco, Lerma– Chapala– Grande de Santiago and Balsas. Overa ...
'' of splitfin
Goodeidae is a family of teleost fish endemic to Mexico and some areas of the United States. Many species are known as splitfins. This family contains about 50 species within 18 genera. The family is named after ichthyologist George Brown Good ...
s was named in his honour by David Starr Jordan in 1880; this in turn gave his name to the family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Goodeidae
Goodeidae is a family of teleost fish endemic to Mexico and some areas of the United States. Many species are known as splitfins. This family contains about 50 species within 18 genera. The family is named after ichthyologist George Brown Goode ...
.
Species named after him include:
* Bluefin killifish, ''Lucania goodei''
*Southern eagle ray
The Southern eagle ray (''Myliobatis goodei''), sometimes known as the Southern eagle fish or the rockfish, is a ray species in the family Myliobatidae. It lives in waters just off of the Atlantic coast, from the tip of Florida down to Argentin ...
, ''Myliobatis goodei''
*Goode croaker, ''Paralonchurus goodei''
*Goode's desert horned lizard, '' Phrynosoma goodei''
*Quillfish
The quillfish, (''Ptilichthys goodei''), is a species of marine ray-finned fish, it is the only species in the genus ''Ptilichthys'' and family Ptilichthyidae. This fish occurs in the northern North Pacific Ocean.
Taxonomy
The quillfish was fir ...
, ''Ptilichthys goodei''
* Chilipepper, ''Sebastes goodei''
* Palometa, ''Trachinotus goodei''
Bibliography
;Ichthyology and fisheries
*
*''The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States'', 7 volumes. (Washington, 1884–1887)
*''American Fishes''; a Popular Treatise upon the Game and Food Fishes of North America, with Especial Reference to Habits and Methods of Capture (New York, 1888)
;Museums
*"Museum-History and Museums of History"
*"The Museums of the Future"
*"The Principles of Museum Administration"
(All are available i
A Memorial of George Brown Goode
See also
* :Taxa named by George Brown Goode
* "The New Museum Idea"
References
Further reading
*Alexander, Edward M. (1983). ''Museum Masters: Their Museums and Their Influence'' (Nashville: American Association for State and Local History).
*"The Origins of Natural Science in America: Essays of George Brown Goode," ed. with intro. by Sally Gregory Kohlstedt (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991).
External links
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