John S. Goff Explained

John S. Goff (June 20, 1931 – April 8, 2001) was a college professor who studied Robert Todd Lincoln and the history of Arizona. He was active in historical organizations.

Personal

Goff was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 20, 1931, to Samuel J. Goff and Elizabeth A. Wilhelm Goff and graduated from Inglewood High School in Inglewood, California, in June 1949, after which he attended Pepperdine College on its campus in Los Angeles.[1] [2] He graduated from the University of Southern California, where he also received a doctorate of philosophy in history.[3] He died on April 8, 2001, and was survived by his mother; a daughter, Margaret Elizabeth Goff, and a son, John Swafford Goff, all of Phoenix, Arizona.[3]

Academic career

In July 1957 Goff was appointed as an instructor in government and history at West Texas State College in Canyon, Texas.[4] In 1960, he next taught at Phoenix College, where he was head of the Social Sciences Department and director of the Paralegal Program.[3] He lived in Phoenix.[5] He wrote books on Arizona history and the Abraham Lincoln family, and he edited the records of the Arizona Constitutional Convention of 1910.[3] Goff was a member of the State Bar of Arizona and the Arizona Academy and was a director of the Arizona Historical Foundation and the Central Arizona chapter of the Arizona Historical Association.[3] He was a member of Phi Alpha Theta, national history fraternity; Pi Sigma Alpha, and Pi Kappa Delta.[4]

Research

Publications

Studies

Goff wrote for the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. He also authored a series of articles about Arizona territorial officials.[3]

In 1985, Goff was chosen by the Illinois State Historical Library to have the first access to the twenty thousand letters which Robert Todd Lincoln wrote between 1860 and 1920 and which were discovered in 1982. They had never been studied. Goff said he would revise his already-printed book on the younger Lincoln and hoped to have the work completed in 1987.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Green & White '49er (Inglewood High School yearbook), 1949
  2. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?viewrecord=1&r=an&db=Numident&indiv=try&h=631671050 Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007
  3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/124587530/?terms=john%2Bs.%2Bgoff "Dr. John S. Goff, Historian," Arizona Republic, April 12, 2001
  4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/42569906/?terms=john%2Bs.%2Bgoff "Two Teachers Appointed to Division of Social Sciences for New Semester," The Canyon News, Canyon, Texas, July 31, 1957, image 8
  5. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=3693&h=22655452&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Axe68&_phstart=successSource Social Security Death Index
  6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/20224276/?terms=john%2Bs.%2Bgoff Ann Patterson, "History of Arizona Surveyed," Arizona Republic, May 5, 1968, image 175
  7. https://www.newspapers.com/image/166692654/?terms=john%2Bs.%2Bgoff David Ramirez, "Prof First to See Lincoln Son's Letters," Arizona Republic, February 21, 1986, image 133
  8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/89351949/?terms=john%2Bs.%2Bgoff Bryce W. Anderson, "The Martyr's Son Remains a Shadow," Daily Independent Journal, San Rafael, California, image 40
  9. https://www.newspapers.com/image/166692654/?terms=john%2Bs.%2Bgoff David F. Brinegar, "Arizona's First Governor Was a 'Radical,' Arizona Daily Republic, December 23, 1973, image 79