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Michael Goodwin Collection

 Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: Coll2009-017

Scope and Contents

This collection comprises materials by and of artist and writer Michael Goodwin, dating 1919-2006. It includes journals, artwork, videocassettes, audiocassettes, correspondence, photographs, photo albums, legal documents, financial documents, posters, theatre programs, and other material. The collection is divided into eight series: (1) Journals, (2) Artwork, (3) Writings, (4) Goodjac Productions files, (5) Audiovisual, (6) Family and personal, (7) Photographs, and (8) Memorabilia and ephemera.

The Journal series consists of personal journals kept by Michael Goodwin. The bulk of this series comprises journals numbered and titled by Michael Goodwin. There are also many unnumbered, untitled journals, as well as loose papers that were found in or near journals. Some journals were kept under the pseudonyms Michael Lawrence or Fiasco. Included in this series are poems, prose, sketches, drawings, photographs, memorabilia, clippings, obituaries, video production notes, telephone numbers and addresses, advertisements, flyers, receipts, and playing cards.

The bulk of the Artwork series consists of Michael Goodwin’s architectural drawings of Victorian buildings in Los Angeles. This series also includes some artwork under the pseudonyms Michael Lawrence or Fiasco. Many of the unpublished drawings are done in black pen on paper, poster board, or matte board. This collection also includes flyers and invitations to art exhibits; as well as artwork by other artists, including Jean Boullet and Darick Gross. There are also several posters in this series.

The Writings series includes copies of published and unpublished works by Michael Goodwin. The bulk of this series consists of writing done under the name of Michael Lawrence. This includes copies of "Dance You Fool," "the Floor's on Fire," "The Weekend with Narcissus and Infidelity," and other manuscripts. This series also includes Stallion Magazine interviews, and many unpublished works that include poetry, prose, and a proposal for "In the Eyes of the Beholder, a Century of Male Erotica."

The Goodjac Productions Files series consists of contracts, business cards, catalog drafts, correspondence, order forms, flyers, model releases, reviews, advertisements, color slides, and VHS box covers from Michael Goodwin's video series. The bulk of the color slides include photographs taken during the production of the Goodjac Chronicles films, as well as photographs of Michael Goodwin. This series also includes posters of "Michael Goodwin presents the Goodjac Chronicles" and "Master the Art of Safe Sex Erotica."

The Audiovisual series consists of videocassettes of many of the Goodjac Chronicles titles as well as other erotica videos produced by Michael Goodwin. This series also includes videocassette copies of various Michael Goodwin interviews, gay pride parades in New York and San Francisco, Folsom Street Fair, and other similar events. This series also includes personal videocassettes documenting a friend's gay wedding. Other videocassettes are copies of various mainstream films and television programs, the First Annual Erotic Film Awards, gay softball game, sex clubs of San Francisco, and others. There are also audiocassettes in this series that include telephone messages, recorded phone calls between Michael and his friends, organ music played by his mother Myrtle, music mixes, Michael discussing his father, and Michael reading a poem or prose.

The Family and Personal series consists of legal and personal documents, including Harry H. Goodwin, Sr.'s Will, memorial cards from the funerals of Harry H. Goodwin, Sr. and Myrtle Goodwin, correspondence, Michael Goodwin's birth certificate, business cards, school report cards, telephone and address books, financial papers, medical papers, a medical journal written by Michael Goodwin, index cards cataloguing Goodwin's movie collection, and other papers.

The Photographs series consists of photo albums documenting Michael Goodwin's family and his childhood, as well as photographs from his personal life as an adult. This series also includes oversized photographs and photo collages that may have been given to or created by Michael Goodwin.

The Memorabilia and Ephemera series includes trophies given to Michael Goodwin, and his father, Harry H. Goodwin, Sr., clippings, greeting cards, postcards, vinyl records, posters, a scrapbook from Goodwin's adolescent and young adult years, and theatre programs. The clippings include adult entertainment, news about friends and family, obituaries, and news articles about Harry Goodwin, Jr, and Michael Goodwin.

Dates

  • Creation: 1919-2006
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1950 - 2005

Creator

Access

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.

Publication Rights

Researchers wishing to publish material must obtain permission in writing from ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives as the physical owner of the material. Note that permission to publish does not constitute copyright clearance. ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives can grant copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for all other materials from the copyright holder(s).

Biography

Michael Goodwin was born on November 21, 1937 in Jacksonville, Florida as Harry Hughes Goodwin, Jr.--son to Harry H. Goodwin, Sr. and Myrtle F. Goodwin. Michael's parents owned and operated Goodwin Plumbing Co. in Jacksonville.

As a teenager and young adult, Michael, known as Harry Goodwin, Jr., spent time as a dancer, choreographer, and scenic designer for many stage productions. He studied under Michael Maule of the New York Ballet Company and performed in productions of Kiss Me Kate, Oklahoma, C'est La Vie, Annie Get Your Gun, South Pacific and The Pajama Game. He was a member of the Players of Sarasota, the Bradenton Little Theatre, and the Starlite Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida.

In 1956 Michael Goodwin began his formal art training at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida and continued to the Akron Art Institute in Ohio one year later. Although he moved to New York in 1959, over the years, his art, writing, and video production career would see him moving between New York and Los Angeles, with time in Cincinnati and San Francisco.

In 1964 Michael Goodwin moved to Los Angeles, later receiving a real estate license. He began drawing the Victorian houses of Los Angeles, which he exhibited at the Los Angeles Conservancy, North University Park Association, and others in his Victorian Artistics series. In these early years in New York and Los Angeles, Michael wrote and produced other artwork under the name Michael Lawrence.

In 1983 Michael Goodwin returned to New York where he hosted "New York Jacks," safe sex parties meant as an outlet for men seeking male partners during the early years of the AIDS crisis. Michael Goodwin also created the first safe sex erotic videos, the Goodjac Chronicles. During this time he also produced other writings and artwork under the name and style he called Fiasco. He spent most of the 1980s and 1990s in New York.

Michael Goodwin died in Hesperia, California on March 18, 2006 and was buried in Florida.

Extent

40 Linear Feet ([22 archive boxes + 5 clamshell ring-binder boxes + 4 oversize boxes + 2 oversize envelopes + 3 map case drawers (+ 0.5 linear feet unprocessed damaged materials)])

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Journals, artwork, videocassettes, audiocassettes, correspondence, photographs, photo albums, legal documents, financial documents, posters, theater programs, and other material by and of artist and writer Michael Goodwin (1937-2006), with materials dating from 1919 to 2006. The core of the collection consists of personal journals and original artwork by Goodwin. A large portion of the collection also consists of materials related to Goodwin's Goodjac Productions. Other portions of the collection include personal materials and papers pertaining to Michael Goodwin's father, Harry H. Goodwin, Sr.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in the following series:

Series 1. Journals

Series 2. Artwork

Series 3. Writings

Series 4. Goodjac Productions records

Series 5. Audiovisual

Series 6. Family and personal

Series 7. Photographs

Series 8. Memorabilia and ephemera

Acquisition Information

Donated by Lucie K. Scheuer, June 27, 2008.

Separated Materials

The following books and periodicals have been separated from the collection:

Russian River Monthly

Martin, Stephen-Paul, Richard Royal, and Eve Ensler, eds. 1988 Central Park. Number 13, Neward Productions.

Locher, J. L., ed. 1971 The World of M.C. Escher. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

Keylin, Arleen and Suri Fleischer, eds. 1977 Hollywood Album. New York Arno Press.

Vivienne Segal and Harold Lang in Pal Joey 1950 vinyl records

Processing Information

Collection processed by Mor Fleischer and Michael Palmer, November 17, 2009; and revised by Emily Prior December 6, 2010.

Title
Finding Aid to the Michael Goodwin Collection, 1919-2006
Status
Completed
Author
Emily Prior
Date
(c) 2010
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.

Repository Details

Part of the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, University of Southern California Repository

Contact:
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles California 90007 United States
(213) 821-2771