Martha Goodway
American metallurgist
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Martha Goodway is an American metallurgist, specializing in archaeometallurgy, the study of traditional techniques of mining, smelting, and working metals; and an expert in the use of metals in historical harpsichords.
Martha Goodway | |
|---|---|
| Born | Roslindale, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS) |
| Years active | 1960s–2000s |
| Known for | - First full-time museum metallurgist in the U.S. - Expert in historical harpsichord metallurgy |
| Notable work | Metals Used in Harpsichords (1987) |
| Title | Archaeometallurgist Emeritus, Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Metallurgy, Archaeometallurgy, Conservation Science |
| Institutions | Smithsonian Institution |
Early life and education
Martha Goodway was raised in Roslindale, Massachusetts. She came from a family of engineers.[1] She graduated from Roslindale High School in 1952,[2] and earned a bachelor's degree in general engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1957.[3] She was one of only nineteen women to earn degrees at MIT that year.[4]
Career
After college she became interested in conservation science, and studied with William Young at the Objects Conservation and Scientific Research Laboratory in Boston. Through Young's connections, she became a metallurgist at the Conservation Analytical Laboratory of the Smithsonian Institution. She became the first metallurgist to work full time in a U.S museum.[1] She worked there for 41 years.[1] In that job, she worked on such diverse historical artifacts as waterproof Greek vessels,[5] Etruscan mirrors,[6] 18th-century wire jewelry from Germany,[7] and the crankcase of the Wright Brothers' first flyer.[8] She was also consulted for comments on the restoration of the Statue of Liberty.[9]
She developed an interest in the use of metals in historical musical instruments, particularly the harpsichord,[10][11] and co-authored a book on the subject in 1987.[12]
Goodway currently holds the title Archaeometallurgist Emeritus at the Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute.[13]