Research, 1916, 1929-1944, 1950-1986, undated

Contained here are Goodrich's general reference files on people and subjects related to Thomas Eakins and his work. Much of this material is directly related to Goodrich's two major biographies of Thomas Eakins (1933, 1982), having served as important background information for these publications. In fact, Goodrich copied many of the documents contained here and filed them with the records related to his published books and long-planned but unpublished catalogue raisonne.

The series is comprised of two sub-series: "People" and "Subjects." The "People" sub-series contains primary source material related to Thomas Eakins, his wife Susan Macdowell Eakins, and the artist's many students, sitters, relatives, friends, and other associates. Much of the material was compiled by Goodrich between 1930 and 1933 when he was working on his first biography of Eakins and making frequent research trips to Philadelphia. The sub-series also contains a small amount of secondary source material, namely published obituaries.

The "Subjects" sub-series contains research material on a variety of topics related to Eakins's life and works. Of particular note are the subject folders on art schools where Eakins taught; art and archival collections; and the exhibition and provenance history of Eakins's work. For research files on specific works of art, as well as Goodrich's to-do lists and notes, see the "Catalogue raisonne" series.