Repository:

Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.

Title:

Jonathan Goodman papers

Inclusive Date(s):

1685-2008

Bulk Date(s):

1965-1996

Author:

Finding aid prepared by Rennie Greenfield

Creation:

Finding aid encoded by Rennie Greenfield using the OhioLINK EAD Application in 2011

Description Rules:

Finding aid prepared using DACS

Origination:

Goodman, Jonathan

Extent:

40 cubic feet (42 boxes=27.5 record storage boxes, 1 slim doc case, 6 oversized boxes, 7 AV boxes)

Physical Location:

11th floor

Finding Aid Identifier:

OhKeUSC0133

Abstract:

This collection consists of the personal papers of Jonathan Goodman. It contains his research, original drafts, manuscripts, subject files and other materials primarily on the subject of true crime.

Revision(s):

March 2021 - Updated by Cara Gilgenbach

Language(s):

The records are in English.

Biography of Jonathan Goodman

Jonathan Walter Goodman was born on 17 January 1931 and raised in Wimbledon in southwest London. He was once called "the greatest living master of true-crime literature," but his interests went far beyond the murders he helped to make famous. He was a stage manager and producer in London's West End theater district before turning his talents to writing. He published almost 40 books in his lifetime - complete murder accounts, anthologies, the Celebrated Trials series, fiction, and poetry.

Detailed Biography of Jonathan Goodman

Jonathan Goodman, once called "the greatest living master of true-crime literature," was a man whose interests ranged far beyond the murders he helped to make famous. He believed that the study and literature of true crime is about much more than the simple rehashing of a misdeed - rather that a crime provides the opportunity to immerse oneself in a time and culture in a way "proper" history books do not.

Jonathan Walter Goodman was born on 17 January 1931 and raised in Wimbledon in southwest London. His mother died when he was in his early teens, and, unable to cope with the loss, his father sent him away to live with an aunt and uncle who ran a boarding house in Putney. After National Service in the Royal Air Force, he made his way to London's burgeoning theater scene in the early 50s working first as a stage manager and eventually as a producer in London's West End. He married Susan Wylie-Harris in 1959 after the two had met at an amateur dramatic production, and, although the marriage was quickly dissolved, the two remained close friends.

By the mid-1960s, having already cut his teeth on the crime novel Instead of Murder and as a television director for the popular ITV police drama No Hiding Place, Goodman was looking for a new challenge when a colleague from the Liverpool Playhouse suggested a walk to the nearby scene of one of the country's most notorious murder cases, 29 Wolverton Street. It was here in 1931 that William Herbert Wallace, a quite unassuming insurance salesman, had allegedly murdered his wife in one of the most bizarre who-done-its ever. Goodman was hooked. He read the entire transcript of the Wallace trial, tracked down lawyers, living witnesses and police officers, and even located the man he believed to be the real culprit. In 1969, Goodman burst on to the true crime scene with The Killing of Julia Wallace and it was immediately hailed as, "the clearest, most balanced, and most readable dissection of a murder case that I have yet had the pleasure of reading," by Michael Gilbert in The Sunday Telegraph. With his trademark style of exhaustive research and florid prose, Goodman published nearly 40 titles over the next 35 years solidifying his reputation as "the premier English investigator of crimes past."

In addition to his more comprehensive accounts of famous murders such as The Stabbing of George Harry Storrs and The Passing of Starr Faithfull, Goodman worked with several notable authors such as Albert Borowitz and Jacques Barzun to produce a series of themed anthologies of crime which include The Railway Murders, Murder in Low Places, The Christmas Murders, and Acts of Murder. He also edited the Celebrated Trials Series and never stopped writing fiction.

He was a member of the Medico-legal Society, The British Academy of Forensic Sciences, and the secretary of Our Society, a select group of 75 judges, lawyers, police officers and a few crime writers founded in 1903 who discussed brutal crimes over civilized dinners.

He died in 2008 just one week shy of his 77th birthday.

Scope and Content

This collection, purchased from the estate of Jonathan Goodman, contains a wealth of primary and secondary sources from his lifetime of study and writing about true crime. Goodman was a man known for his dogged research and his papers reflect the multitude of sources he employed in his quest to flesh out the details of some of history's most famous murders. The collection consists primarily of Goodman's research and published writings on true crime including hand corrected drafts, manuscripts, and galley proofs. In addition to his own writings, his papers contain articles and reviews by dozens of his contemporaries in the genre. Not content to simply amass the writings of true crime, Jonathan Goodman collected all types of murder paraphernalia from criminal broadsides to signed letters and photographs of some of the most prominent players in the cases he loved. The binder of Criminous Odds and Ends contains many one-of-a-kind artifacts of true crime lore as well as some theater memorabilia from Goodman's days in London's West End. There is a large selection of photographs chronicling his days in the theater and his personal life, and an even larger selection of photographs used in his published works. Housed within the Goodman papers are the professional documents from Sir William Willcox, a lecturer on forensic medicine and a leading medico-legal expert from early 20th century London. The Willcox papers contain his notes, court documents, and opinions from dozens of murder and poisoning cases. The collection also contains Jonathan Goodman's fiction, lecture materials, manuscript reviews, audiovisual materials and a large selection of subject files on a variety of murder and non-murder related topics. Additionally, the collection contains years of correspondence from other true crime authors and persons of interest involved in famous murders as well as news clippings from over a century of crime.

Statement of Arrangement

This collection has been organized into the following 18 series:

• Series 1: Publications by Goodman: Nonfiction
• Series 2: Publications by Goodman: Fiction
• Series 3: Subject Files
• Series 4: Publications by Others
• Series 5: Casebooks
• Series 6: Correspondence
• Series 7: Clippings
• Series 8: Ideas for Books, Articles, and T.V. Shows
• Series 9: Talks, Lectures, Speeches
• Series 10: Manuscript Reviews
• Series 11: Theater Materials
• Series 12: Criminous Odds and Ends
• Series 13: Criminous Illustrations
• Series 14: Photographs
• Series 15: Personal Effects
• Series 16: Dr. Willcox Papers
• Series 17: Oversized Newspapers and Broadsides
• Series 18: Audio Visual Materials

Restrictions on Use

Kent State University does not own the copyright to materials in this collection. Permission from the Goodman Estate or other copyright holders must be obtained for use other than personal research.

Preferred Citation

Jonathan Goodman papers. Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.

Acquisition Information

A portion of this collection including personal papers and memorabilia was donated to the Kent State Special Collections and Archives. The remainder of the collection was purchased from the estate of Jonathan Goodman at his specific request. Jonathan Goodman had a long-standing relationship with the Kent State University Press and the Kent State Department of Special Collections and Archives which houses a premier collection of true crime literature and ephemera.

Subject Headings

The following subjects are found in this collection:

Subjects:

• Crime--History
• Crime--Great Britain--History
• Crime--United States--History
• Crime writing
• True crime stories
• Murder--Great Britain--History
• Murder--United States--History
• Trials (Murder)--Great Britain
• Trials (Murder)--United States
• Criminals--Great Britain--History
• Criminals--United States--History
• Forensic sciences
• Criminal investigation
• Theater--Great Britain
• Detective and mystery stories

Persons:

• Goodman, Jonathan--Archives
• Borowitz, Albert, 1930- -- Correspondence
• Crippen, Hawley Harvey, 1862-1910
• Dew, Walter
• Wallace, Julia, d. 1931
• Faithfull, Starr, 1906-1931
• Foster, Evelyn, 1901-1931
• Storrs, George Harry, d. 1909
• Elwell, J. B. (Joseph Bowne), 1874-1920
• Willcox, William Henry, Sir, d. 1941
• Barzun, Jacques, 1907-
• Jesse, F. Tennyson (Fryniwyd Tennyson), 1888-1958

Organizations/Corporations:

• Black Museum (England)

Functions:

• Crime writing

Occupations:

• Crime historians
• Authors

Material Types:

• Personal papers
• Personal correspondence
• Manuscripts for publication
• Photographs
• Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
• Ephemera
• Printed ephemera

Detailed Description of the Collection