The collection is open for research.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Morgan Goodhart Papers, Ms2011-017, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The collection was acquired by Special Collections and University Archives prior to 2012.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Morgan Goodhart Papers was completed in February 2011. Additional processing, arrangement, and description commenced in June 2023 and was completed in September 2023.
Morgan Harrison Goodhart, son of Clarence R. and Pauline Boyd Goodhart, was born in New Mexico on August 3, 1907. He attended the University of Georgia, earning a bachelor's degree in education and history and a commission as second lieutenant in the Army Infantry Reserve in 1933; and a master's degree in history and government in 1936. While attending college, Goodhart served as an instructor at Darlington School for Boys (Rome, Georgia) from 1933 to 1935; then worked as assistant instructor of history at the University of Georgia (1936) and as assistant instructor of history at Louisiana State University (1936-1938). In 1939, Goodhart joined the U. S. Army Air Forces, and during World War II, he received assignment to photo reconnaissance units, serving in the Mediterranean Theater and in Italy. With creation of the U. S. Air Force in 1947, Goodhart was integrated into the service as a career officer. By 1949, Goodhart had been promoted to lieutenant colonel and was in charge of the passenger terminal at Rhein Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany. He served as executive officer of the liaison section of the U. S. forces in Austria from 1946 to 1948 and as terminal officer during the Berlin Airlift. Following his return to the U. S. in 1949, Goodhart served as chief of staff in charge of psychological warfare within the Air Resupply and Communications Service at the Pentagon. He received a Ph.D. in history from the University of Vienna in 1951. In 1952, Goodhart was named commanding officer and professor of air science and tactics of the Air Reserve Officers Training Corps at University of Oklahoma. In 1956, he became director of the maintenance laboratory at Lowry Air Force Base, Denver, Colorado. Goodhart retired from the Air Force on October 31, 1960. Course catalogs of The Citadel list him as an assistant professor of history from 1961 to 1968, and associate professor of history from 1969 to 1972. Morgan H. Goodhart died January 19, 1987, and was buried in Oakhill Cemetery, Bartow County, Georgia.
This collection contains the correspondence of Morgan Goodhart, a staff officer in the U. S. Army during World War II and afterward. Included are outgoing as well as incoming letters, consisting largely of exchanges between Goodhart and his mother (Pauline Boyd Goodhart) and sister (Jean Goodhart Akin) and other family members and friends. The letters trace Goodhart's war service from Fort Dix to England, Africa, and finally Italy. Goodhart's frequent letters focus on family matters, daily activities, and descriptions of his surroundings. Included among these letters are several examples of V-mail ("victory mail"), The collection also contains letters received by Goodhart's mother and sister from other correspondents, and a few letters exchanged among third parties. Also included are materials relating to Goodhart's service as commanding officer and professor of air science and tactics of the Air Reserve Officers Training Corps at University of Oklahoma. The collection also includes a small selection of personal financial papers, invitations, and photographs. A folder of notes and ephemera contains, among other things, two blank sheets of Goodhart's stationery; a page of genealogical notes on the Boyd/Baldwin family of Virginia; a treasurer's report for the Art and Literature Club of Kansas City; and a guide to an Angelo di Benedetto and Lee Porzio gallery show at the Kober Shop (Denver, Colorado).
The guide to the Morgan Goodhart Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your- work/public-domain/cc0/).