Temple University announced that the papers of W. Wilson Goode will be preserved in the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection.
Goode made history in 1984 when he was elected as Philadelphia’s first Black mayor, serving two terms from 1984 to 1992. His election was seen as a milestone and remains a defining period in the city’s political history.
Diane Turner, curator of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, noted the historical and cultural significance of the gift.
“The donation of the Rev. Dr. W. Wilson Goode Sr. papers extends back to the time when Mr. Charles L. Blockson was among us,” said Turner. “He had great respect for Goode and was very pleased when the Blockson staff started negotiations to have his papers join our collection. We are honored to make the announcement that Goode’s papers will be housed in the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection and be accessible for generations to come.”
A history-making public servant whose career broke barriers and set precedents, Goode is known for his economic development initiatives, such as reshaping the city’s appealing skyline, and pioneering social programs like the country’s first city program for the homeless and the first city HIV/AIDS program.
Prior to his terms as mayor, he was the first Black member and later chair of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and first Black managing director for the City of Philadelphia.
In addition to his career in public service, Goode has dedicated much of his life to faith-based leadership and education. He is the founder of Amachi Inc., a nationally recognized program that provides mentoring and support for children with incarcerated parents, and has served for more than 60 years as a minister at the First Baptist Church of Paschall in southwest Philadelphia.
His transformative work was recognized in 2006 with two prestigious awards: the Civic Ventures $100,000 Purpose Prize and The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Citizen of the Year.
Goode’s collection will be delivered to Temple in three stages and will include files from his two mayoral terms and from his faith-based and nonprofit work. The materials will be inventoried and catalogued to ensure they are preserved and made accessible to the Temple community and the public for learning and research.
The Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection is one of the nation's leading research facilities for the study of the history and culture of people of African descent. This collection of more than 700,000 items has materials on the global Black experience in all formats: books, manuscripts, sheet music, pamphlets, journals, newspapers, broadsides, posters, photographs and rare ephemera. In addition, the collection houses selected artifacts, such as statues and busts.