Born in Winnebago Illinois, January 23, 1870, Mary Alice Goddard was a school teacher in Illinois from 1890-95 when she moved to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan where she completed her degree in 1900. She was hired as an instructor by the Michigan State Normal College in 1901, and retired in 1939 as a full professor after compeleting graduate work at the University of Chicago, University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin. After retiring in 1939, she lived with her brother Edwin C. Goddard in Ann Arbor where he was professor emeritus from the University of Michigan. The Mary Goddard papers is a small selection of materials created and collected by Botany professor at the Michigan State Normal College Mary Goddard. Given that Goddard joined the fauclty in 1901 taught at the College until her retirement in 1939, there is little in the collection that documents her work in the classroom or in the field, with some examples of her outside interest in the Underground Railroad. Goddard died January 18, 1941 in Ypsilanti.