Malvin Russell Goode (1908–1995)

October 01, 2016 
/ Contributed By: Samuel Momodu

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Malvin Russell Goode

Courtesy Post News Group

Malvin Russell Goode was the first African American news correspondent for a major television network. Goode was born on February 13, 1908, in White Plains, Virginia, but his family moved to Homestead, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, when he was very young. Goode, the third of four boys and two girls, attended public school in Homestead, Pennsylvania. While still in high school, Goode began working nights at U.S. Steel’s Homestead Mill, where his father was employed, and continued his employment there even as he attended the University of Pittsburgh. He received a bachelor’s degree there in 1931. After graduation, he continued to work at the mill because jobs were difficult to find during the Great Depression.

In 1936, Goode finally left the Homestead Mill to become a probation officer for Pittsburgh’s juvenile court. He also worked at Pittsburgh’s Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). In 1942, he became the manager of the Pittsburgh Housing Authority, remaining at that post for six years.

In 1948, Goode became a journalist when he was offered a job as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the two largest black newspapers in the United States. He became a radio broadcaster in 1949, working for Pittsburgh’s AM radio station KQV, doing fifteen-minute news shows. Goode also worked for WHOD television station where he anchored a five-minute daily news show. He was named the station news director in 1952. While there, Goode became the first African American member of the National Association of Radio and Television News Directors.

In 1962, Goode became the first black network news correspondent when he was hired by ABC Television News as its United Nations (UN) reporter in New York City. The position was created when former baseball player Jackie Robinson publicly had complained to ABC executives about the lack of black reporters. Goode was hired over forty other candidates.

After a few months on the job, Goode received his first major assignment: covering the Cuban Missile Crisis that involved the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba. His coverage of the crisis earned him the respect of his colleagues both at ABC and at the other networks. He also became a celebrity among African Americans.

In 1963, Goode traveled overseas with other black colleagues and helped teach journalism in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ethiopia to more than one hundred students in various seminars. He returned home and continued to report important stories, including the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X, the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in 1968. Goode remained with ABC until his retirement in 1973. He continued working for the National Black Network, covering the United Nations and politics through the 1980s.

During his lifetime, Goode was a member of numerous organizations, including the Association of Radio-TV Analysts, the National Association of Radio and TV News Directors, and the United Nations Correspondents Association, where he served as president in 1972. Goode was also a member of the 100 Black Men of America in New York. His many awards doing his career included “Man of the Year” by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity (he was also a member of the fraternity), the Mary McLeod Bethune Award from Bethune-Cookman College, the Michelle Clark Award from the Columbia University School of Journalism, and an award from the Polish Government through the United Nations in 1972.

Goode married Mary Lavelle on September 26, 1936. The couple had six children. Malvin Russell Goode died of a stroke on September 12, 1995, at the age of eighty-seven in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About the Author

Author Profile

Samuel Momodu, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, received his Associate of Arts Degree in History from Nashville State Community College in December 2014 and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from Tennessee State University in May 2016. He received his Master of Arts Degree in history from Southern New Hampshire University in June 2019.

Momodu’s main areas of research interest are African and African American History. His passion for learning Black history led him to contribute numerous entries to BlackPast.org for the last few years. Momodu has also worked as a history tour guide at President Andrew Jackson’s plantation home near Nashville, the Hermitage. He is currently an instructor at Tennessee State University. His passion for history has also helped him continue his education. In 2024, he received his Ph.D. in History from Liberty University, writing a dissertation titled The Protestant Vatican: Black Churches Involvement in the Nashville Civil Rights Movement 1865-1972. He hopes to use his Ph.D. degree to become a university professor or professional historian.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Momodu, S. (2016, October 01). Malvin Russell Goode (1908–1995). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/goode-malvin-russell-1908-1995/

Source of the Author's Information:

“Malvin Goode,” Encyclopedia of World Biography,
http://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-Fl-Ka/Goode-Mal.html;
“Malvin Goode,” Black American Web,
http://blackamericaweb.com/2016/08/29/little-known-black-history-fact-malvin-r-goode/;
Lean’tin Bracks, African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph,
Courage, and Excellence
(Canton, Michigan: Visible Ink Press, 2012).

Further Reading