Name: Goodwin, Anna Gardner (1874-1959)

Historical Note: Anna Gardner Goodwin (1874-1959) was an African American composer of classical music. Goodwind was born in Augusta, Georgia, and married George Goodwin, a reverend and theology professor at Morehouse College, in July 1895. Goodwin published her first composition, “Adelene,” in 1909. She attended the Paine Institute in Augusta, and earned a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania to study the “method and supervision of public school music” in the summer of 1913. Goodwind’s husband died in 1914, and three years later, Anna and her sister, Janie, moved to Chicago, Illinois. Goodwin’s last composition, “Freedom to All March,” was performed by the Cicero Band in 1956 to commemorate the Cicero (Illinois) race riots of 1951. Goodwin died in 1959.

Records or Manuscript Collections Created by Goodwin, Anna Gardner