Mary Ann Goodman, 'The Good Woman of New Haven,' Webinar Feb. 19

NEW HAVEN, CT — In 1872, New Haven resident Mary Ann Goodman, a free woman of African descent who owned a laundry service business, left to Yale her entire life savings, nearly $5,000 —equal today to more than $120,000 —to provide scholarships for Black divinity students.

Sixty-eight when she died, her Grove Cemetery her gravestone reads that her bequeath was to, "...educate men of her own color to in Yale College for the gospel ministry."

Hers was the first gift to Yale University by a person of color.

"Goodman's gift had an immediate impact, being used to recruit the first black students to study theology at Yale," as noted in a 2108 Community Foundation for Greater New Haven story. "It also helped establish the divinity school as a center for social change."

Now, her inspirational life story will be presented Feb. 19 at 12:30 p.m., by Joan Duffy, senior archives assistant in the Yale Divinity Library Special Collections, in a lunchtime webinar for the New Haven Museum. Register here.

The program is the second in the new NHM webinar series, "Voices of Legacy: Lunchtime Conversations on Early Black Women."

During her webinar, Duffy will demonstrate how Goodman’s 1872 endowment of her entire estate made her the first woman of color to establish a scholarship at Yale University.

Goodman’s bequest to Yale Divinity School, at a time when students of color were denied formal matriculation into the University, was extraordinary, Duffy noted. The gift changed the face of the school with the admission of Solomon Melvin Coles. From that point forward, Duffy said, the Divinity School’s African American presence has continued to grow and thrive.
In recent years, Duffy was contacted by numerous people wanting to know more about Goodman.

"Clearly Goodman required a more complete biography," Duffy said. "I continued doing genealogical research and found much more than I ever expected about Goodman, her family and friends. I am now working on additional stories to tell about the people who were important in Goodman’s life."

Duffy maintains that Goodman accomplished what white abolitionists like the Rev. Simeon Jocelyn had tried unsuccessfully to do when proposing plans for an African American college in New Haven. "This story should be known by all New Haveners and be a source of great pride for the African American community. I’d love to see her commemorated every year," Duffy added.

Duffy points out that her work follows that of the late Judith Ann Schiff, an archivist at Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library and the former New Haven’s City Historian, who wrote the basic story of the Goodman endowment." My work is a continuation of what Judith started many years ago," Duffy said.

Goodman is highlighted in the “Shining Light on Truth: New Haven, Yale, and Slavery” exhibition, which is on view at the New Haven Museum through Saturday, March 1, 2025.

This free NH250 event will be recorded and available via New Haven Museum YouTube and social media. It will be the second lecture in the new NHM webinar series, “Voices of Legacy: Lunchtime Conversations on Early Black Women."

This event is part of NH250, an ongoing series of programming developed by New Haven Museum to complement “America 250.” Culminating with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the series will highlight inclusive, local, and lesser-known stories, connecting past and present.

For more information visit http://newhavenmuseum.org or @NewHavenMuseum or call 203-562-4183.