These sermons provide an interesting perspective on the ideals of the turbulent years of the 1960s and 1970s, such as discrimination, discussed in a sermon written for July 9, 1972. Such topics were also covered within articles Father Goodrow wrote for the Daily Times of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, which are in this collection. Most of the articles that could be dated within this collection were written during the 1970s and range in topics, including articles discussing South Africa and the United States (1971), community restoration (1973), President Nixon (1974), Indian discrimination (undated), and even an article on cats (undated). Father Goodrow also wrote for other publications, such as The Christian Challenge and The Living Church and local newspapers including the Morning Sun and CMLife. Materials collected to add St. John’s Episcopal Church to the National Register of Historic Places, 1981, complete the collection. For more information about the church, see the finding aid and catalog record for its collection which is also housed in the Clarke.
Processing Note: Acidic materials (1 cubic foot) were copied and the originals were returned to the donor as requested.
Biography:
John Harwood Goodrow was born on February 27, 1929 in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Wayne State University and Berkley Divinity School at Yale. He married Sally Ellen Lewis on September 19, 1959. Together they had three children: Katherine born June 5, 1960; Ellen Marie born September 17, 1961; and John Thomas born December 20, 1962. The Reverend Father Goodrow served as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, for 23 years, from January 1962 until his death in 1985. He was well-known for his community outreach projects, such as the John H. Goodrow Fund, which fully developed in 1988 as an emergency relief fund that provides food, shelter, clothing, medicine, gasoline, or other support to those in need. Father Goodrow died on September 15, 1985. Sally Goodrow continues to be an active member of St. John’s Episcopal Church and the Goodrow Fund. (This information is from the collection and ancestrylibrary.com, accessed in May 2014, and from Sally Goodrow in July 2014.)
